More people in custody at the Douglas County Jail will be tested for coronavirus beginning this week.

Douglas County Corrections Director Mike Myers said Tuesday morning that testing will be expanded to about a hundred inmates a week at the jail as part of an effort to move inmates out of observation and into the general population more quickly, as incarcerations are expected to climb in the summer months.

Myers reported to the Douglas County Board of Commissioners that about 20 inmates at the jail have been tested so far, and three incarcerated people arrived at the jail having previously had a positive test for the coronavirus. He said no one is known to have acquired the virus from the facility. Three staff members tested positive in May, but were not exposed by each other.

“I feel that we have been successful in combating this pandemic at the jail,” Myers said.

The jail had been testing inmates only if they showed symptoms. Now everyone who enters custody at the jail will be tested on their 10th day.

Myers cautioned that he expects increased testing to yield more positive cases, although he said that doesn’t reflect a change in the jail’s overall safety. In addition, Myers said he was concerned that the arrests stemming from protests in the area – where people were gathered in crowds – could yield more coronavirus cases.