The first case of an inmate having COVID-19 at the Butler County Prison was confirmed Friday.

The inmate tested positive for the virus on Thursday, according to Warden Joe DeMore.

The warden said he put the jail in a state of “modified operations,” but declined to share details because of security concerns. The facility on Washington Street has more than 200 inmates.

However, several family members with inmates in the jail said the facility has been placed on a 23-hour lockdown, with each inmates' free hour being used for activities like making calls and taking a shower.

The inmate who tested positive has been at the jail for a long time and was asymptomatic, according to DeMore. The inmate was scheduled to be transferred to a state correctional facility and was required to be tested.

For now, the transfer to the state correctional facility has been delayed as the infected inmate has been put in isolation in the jail's medical area.

“We're doing really well,” DeMore said. “Most jails have been on lockdown the whole pandemic but we haven't.”

In October, two jail employees tested positive for the virus, which brought the number of jail employees who contracted the virus since the outbreak in March up to five. In response, the jail was placed on temporary lockdown.

DeMore said they didn't know how the inmate was exposed to the virus, but he said that since October more than 100 people, including both staff and inmates, have been tested at the jail.

Inmates and staff have begun to wear masks regularly since October and DeMore said countless other measures have been undertaken to help prevent the spread of the virus.

Several family members of inmates at the county jail have said that there is more than one inmate in the jail with the virus, but DeMore rejected that claim. He said that any inmate that shows symptoms is being tested.