COVID-19 coverage graphic

Three Gregg County Jail inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, one of which is being treated at a local hospital, according to a statement released Tuesday morning by jail officials.

The jail has also has had four staff members test positive for the coronavirus, according to the statement. Two of the staff members have recovered and returned to work; the other two are recovering at home and expected to recover soon.

The two inmates not being treated at the hospital and five inmates from Smith County who tested positive are being housed in the Marvin A. Smith facility in Kilgore, according to the statement. Marvin A. Smith was designated as the two jails’ COVID-19 quarantine facility in an agreement between Gregg County Sheriff Maxey Cerliano and Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith.

Gregg County Sheriff Maxey Cerliano announced the county’s first positive case in an inmate in a statement released April 2. 

The inmate had required outside medical treatment multiple times a week throughout his confinement due to a medical condition, he said. The inmate was released from the hospital and taken to the Smith County Jail to be housed in a special cell. When a Smith County Jail inmate tested positive for the coronavirus, the second phase of the sheriffs’ plan was initiated and the inmates were transferred to Marvin A. Smith.