Grady Co. Jail Warden Blasts ‘Super-Spreader’ Claims Made In Troubling National Report

The warden of an Oklahoma jail is defending his facility after a troubling national news report.

VICE News reports the Grady County Jail is a "super-spreader" for COVID-19 and is causing outbreaks at federal prisons across the country.

The article calls the facility a "hillbilly county jail." Warden Jim Gerlach told News 9; the publication is a tabloid that just flat out got the story wrong.

The online news site said the outbreak began with Joseph Maldonado Passage - better known as Joe Exotic.

They report he and eight other federal prisoners were moved to a Ft. Worth facility where there were zero positive COVID-19 cases at the time. VICE said a month later, more than 600 prisoners were infected and 12 dead.

VICE reports its part of a larger problem. Reporter Keegan Hamilton wrote, "the Grady County Jail has earned a reputation as a super-spreader, linked to outbreaks at federal institutions across the country."

Warden Jim Gerlach said, there is "no scientific data, no medical data" behind VICE's reporting.

"We don't have very many cases here," he said.

According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health, 121 inmates and staff have tested positive for the virus and one person has died since March.

With 445 federal inmates currently housed in Grady County, the facility is one of the largest transfer sites in the county, according to Gerlach.

Another major allegation in the article said jail employees used Tylenol to lower inmates’ temperature to pass a temperature check before transferring on to a federal prison.

A senior corrections officer in Chicago told VICE, his facility "recently received five Grady County prisoners - all positive for COVID-19 - who said they'd received Tylenol to pass a temperature check."

The Warden said that's simply not true.

"We just don't have the manpower to go around and throw Tylenol at people," Gerlach said.

The article said “…Grady County has only been equipped with an Abbott Rapid Test machine, which is less reliable than a lab test.”

Gerlach told News 9, the facility has 12 Abbott rapid test machines. He said the jail has recently began testing inmates before they are transferred.

He said currently, no inmates are transferred on to federal prisons if they show any COVID-19 symptoms.

The U.S. Marshals Service which oversees the federal prisoners did not respond to a request for comment.