Two inmates at the San Luis Obispo County Jail have tested positive for COVID-19, authorities say.
In a press release, sheriff’s officials said an inmate was found to have a fever and body aches on Thursday, July 16, and was immediately isolated in the prison’s medical unit.
The inmate tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday and the Sheriff’s Office conducted a tracing investigation of the contract to see who else may have been exposed and forwarded the findings to the San Luis Obispo County Department of Public Health.
On Saturday, a second inmate reported a sore throat and was isolated, authorities said.
The second inmate was examined on Saturday and received positive results the same day.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, another contract tracking investigation was conducted.
These are the first cases among the inmate population there, authorities said.
“Ensuring the health and safety of our inmates is a priority,” said Sheriff Ian Parkinson. “We have instituted a series of measures to not only keep our inmates safe but everyone who works in prison.”
Sheriff’s officials said the two inmates who tested positive for the new virus are in good condition and other inmates who were potentially exposed are in quarantine units and are checked daily for fever and respiratory symptoms.
Most California jails have been dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks for months, however, the San Luis Obispo County Jail has seen no cases among inmates until this month.
The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office credits its COVID-19 prevention plan for helping to keep the virus out of jail.
“This is a high-risk population, in a high-risk environment,” said Medical Director Dr. Christy Mulkerin. “We have worked hard to keep COVID out of jail following CDC and County Public Health guidelines because we want to keep staff, jail patients, and the community safe.”
The prison’s COVID-19 prevention plan includes the following actions:
- Nurse assesses all detainees for fever and COVID symptoms before entering prison
- quarantine all new detainees for 14 days
- isolate anyone with symptoms in the medical unit
- tests for COVID-19
- assess staff for disease before starting work
- providing masks for inmates
- Implementation of video court to decrease the exposure of the community
- intensive cleaning
- suspend in-person visits
An employee of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office working inside the prison tested positive for COVID-19 on July 10.
It was the first confirmed case among staff or inmates at the San Luis Obispo County Jail.
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