Two more Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s staff members test positive for COVID, five inmates remain positive
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. - The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office reported that two more sheriff's staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus. These two include a custody deputy and a non-sworn staff member.
The custody deputy reportedly last worked on Dec. 11 and began experiencing symptoms on Thursday, Dec. 24. The deputy was immediately tested and received positive results the same day.
The non-sworn staff member last reportedly worked on Dec. 22 and was tested as part of the office's ongoing employee surveillance testing. The staff received positive test results on Thursday, however, they are not experiencing any symptoms at this time.
Both the deputy and staff member reportedly wore PPE consistently while at work.
These cases bring the total number of sheriff's office employees who have tested positive for the virus to 71. 50 of those individuals have already recovered and returned to work.
The sheriff's office also said one positive-testing inmate was released from the County Main Jail, bringing the total number of active cases in the jail to five.
These remaining five inmates are being actively monitored by medical staff and are housed in negative-air pressure housing areas separate from the main jail population, according to the sheriff's office.
So far, there have been a total of 94 COVID-19 cases among the County Jail inmate population. 68 of those individuals have recovered, 19 have been released from custody and one has passed away.
