Inmate had COVID for weeks, St Louis jail didn’t know: Documents

Tests obtained by Al Jazeera show 14 days passed before jail criticised for its COVID safety protocols was informed.

The City Justice Center (CJC), a jail in St Louis, Missouri, that saw three revolts in two months over allegedly brutal conditions and unsafe COVID-19 protocols, housed a COVID-positive detainee for two weeks before the jail was informed, documents obtained by Al Jazeera show, raising questions about COVID-19 safety protocols inside the jail, and the city’s testing procedures. Litel Gilmore, a pretrial detainee at CJC, tested positive for COVID-19 on December 15, according to confidential medical records obtained by Al Jazeera, which Gilmore agreed to share. The “notification date” for the test is December 29, records show. Another positive test was performed on December 30, the day Gilmore was placed under full quarantine. The notification date for that test is January 5.