Pinellas Juvenile Detention Center employee tests positive for coronavirus

LARGO — An employee at the Pinellas Juvenile Detention Center has tested positive for coronavirus, the state Department of Juvenile Justice announced Tuesday.

The employee hasn’t been at work since March 27. The agency did not say when the positive test came back.

Because of the positive test, all the detainees who would normally be sent to the Pinellas facility are being rerouted north to the Pasco Juvenile Detention Center.

This is the second employee or contract employee who works for the Department of Juvenile Justice in Florida to test positive, said spokeswoman Amanda Slama.

The children still being held at the Pinellas facility and the staff who work there are being monitored for symptoms, she said.

Staff were given personal protective equipment to be used if they work with a child who is showing symptoms, she said. Currently, she said, no children at the Pinellas center are.

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