More than 40 Alameda County Sheriff’s officers and staff have tested positive for COVID-19 since late June, as the department deals with an increase in coronaviruses both inside and outside the Santa Rita Jail.
The department counted its first two positive cases among employees in March and did not register another until the end of June, the sergeant said. Ray Kelly on Saturday. But in the past month alone, about 41 sheriff’s employees, mostly sworn deputies, have contracted the virus.
At one point in early July, about 70 of the department’s 1,600 people were quarantined for illness or exposure. The first batch of 35 infections were identified over the course of a few days, followed by another half dozen over the past week. Many have returned to work since then.
“We are seeing a lot of asymptomatic evidence,” Kelly said. “It is the strange thing about the virus.”
Some infected officers work at the Santa Rita jail, where an accelerated outbreak caused coronavirus cases to double to a total of 101 infected inmates on Friday, while others are part of separate units such as the patrol. Kelly did not have exact numbers Saturday on where exactly positive employees are assigned, but said the infections come from a combination of units. One deputy, 25-year veteran Oscar Rocha, has battled the intensive care unit virus and remains in critical condition.
Still, the department plans to host a shortened version of its annual fitness challenge on Saturday and Sunday at its regional training center in Dublin, on the way to the Santa Rita jail. Only 13 people compete this year compared to the more or less usual 50.
The event will include a race and obstacles that participants will complete at separate times, Kelly said, with equipment cleaned between each shift.
“There is a very strict plan that was put in place regarding sanitation, social distancing, cleaning up whatever kind of thing would be touched,” Kelly said, adding: “The sheriff feels that every tradition we have, some of they need to continue at least to try to feel normal during COVID-19. “
