More than 900 cases of COVID-19 reported at Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex
LOMPOC, Calif. - More than 900 inmates at the Federal Correctional Complex in Lompoc have tested positive for COVID-19.
792 of the cases are located within the minimum-security prison, FCI Lompoc. There are 1,162 total inmates throughout the entire prison.
It's the largest cluster of coronavirus cases throughout the entire Federal Prison system.
The increasing totals come days after the prison announced it would test 100 percent of all inmates at the prison.
In addition to the inmates who have tested positive, 14 members of the prison staff have tested positive for the deadly disease. Three of those staff members are considered to be fully recovered.
The medium-security prison, USP Lompoc, has 115 positive cases among the prison populace, including two inmates who have died with COVID-19 determined as a contributing factor in their deaths. 20 employees of USP Lompoc have tested positive for COVID-19, 6 of which are considered recovered.
In mid-April, USP Lompoc had the highest rate of infection among all federal prisons which led to California lawmakers drafting a letter to the Bureau of Prisons demanding swift action.
Among those requests, approval of a mobile hospital to treat COVID-19 patients from the prison.
A hospital care unit which will service COVID-19 patients at USP Lompoc was just completed this week.
Despite the explosion of positive results at FCI Lompoc, USP Lompoc currently has no plans to test all of the inmates at the prison.
Within the prisons themselves, inmates at FCI Lompoc are spending the a larger portion of their time in their cells, in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19. Access to computers and payphones are currently restricted, due to the fear of spreading the disease.
The prison has said these restrictions are only temporary and will be lifted once the situation settles down. Until then, friends and family of inmates inside the prison are encouraged to contact their loved ones via the United States Post Office.
The Bureau of Prisons is updating their case totals every day. These totals are included in the daily updates provided by the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department. The numbers differ because Santa Barbara County uses a noon cutoff time for their counts. The Bureau of Prisons cutoff time is later in the day.
Santa Barbara County officials will hold a Friday news briefing to discuss the latest numbers at 4:30 p.m. That news briefing will be streamed on NewsChannel 3, the News Now Channel, and on KEYT.com.
