Among the five new COVID cases among Santa Barbara County Jail inmates, one person was positive upon arrest, and four were in the general jail population, the Sheriff’s Office announced August 3. The latter were apparently infected by a previous inmate, who has since been released, the Sheriff's Office stated. They lived in a housing unit of 17 inmates, all of whom were tested. The other 13 tested negative but are being monitored.
Inmates who enter the jail COVID-positive are housed in negative-pressure rooms at the jail, but with such an infectious disease rampant in Santa Barbara County, the jail quarantines all new inmates for 14 days. The facility is holding 593 inmates at the moment, in housing units that vary in size, the largest with as many as 40 people, said Raquel Zick, spokesperson for the Sheriff's Office. Contact between the housing-unit occupants is minimal, she said, both because of the setup of the jail and for infection control.
Of the 14 inmates with coronavirus in the jail most recently, seven caught it in the jail, and seven came in with the disease, which was noted either during the new-prisoner quarantine or upon intake. Among them was one individual who voluntarily warned officers that he was COVID-positive when arrested. If inmates are released but still symptomatic, they are given health instructions and referred to Public Health, said Zick.