Santa Barbara County inmate tests positive for COVID-19

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. - The Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown announced on Friday that an inmate at the Santa Barbara County Jail tested positive for COVID-19.

The 40-year-old inmate was arrested by Santa Maria police and booked at the Main Jail on April 1 on charges of burglary, stalking and being under the influence of drugs.

As part of the Jail’s COVID-19 response plan, all newly admitted inmates are held in a reception housing area that is separated from the Jail’s general population. After inmates complete a reception stay of 14 days or more, they are examined by medical staff from Wellpath, the Jail’s contracted medical provider, prior to being rehoused in other areas of the facility.

The Sheriff's Office reports that, on April 14, during their examination, the inmate was found to have a fever.

The inmate was then reportedly moved immediately to a negative pressure room in a special housing area, placed on quarantine protocols and tested for COVID-19.

The Sheriff's Office said they received the positive test result Thursday night.

They also confirmed the inmate does not have any underlying health conditions.

The Sheriff’s Office then conducted a contact tracking investigation to determine if anyone may have been exposed to the inmate while he was infectious and forwarded that investigation to the Public Health Department for evaluation and follow-up.

The Sheriff’s Office said it, in collaboration with its Wellpath partners, has developed a COVID-19 prevention and response plan that includes various steps to help reduce the chances of a COVID-19 outbreak at the Jail such as:

• The 14-day minimum reception process mentioned above;
• The completion of a medical examination on each new inmate in a private area outside the perimeter of the Jail;
• Checking the temperature of all staff and other persons entering the facility;
• Providing all staff and inmates with appropriate PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), including issuing an N95 mask to each and requiring that the masks be worn during transportation to and from and while in court;
• Providing education and information on how to stay healthy to every inmate on a continuing basis;
• Providing inmates with cleaning supplies and extra soap, and increasing the number and frequency of cleaning and disinfecting work crews throughout the facility.

In addition, since Gov. Newsom declared a state of emergency on March 4, the inmate population in the Jail has reduced from 906 to 582. This is due to a release of low-risk inmates who are accused of lower-level crimes.

The Sheriff’s Office has also released inmates per the Judicial Council of California’s emergency order that reduced bail to $0 for many felony and most misdemeanor offenses during and for 90 days after the end of the emergency order.

Chief Custody Deputy Vincent Wasilewski said, “The reduction in population we have experienced during the last month and a half has given us the opportunity to compartmentalize our population and develop a defend-in-place housing plan that we would not have been able to do otherwise.”

The Sheriff added, “Each of the inmates who were released early or whose bail was reduced to zero pursuant to the emergency order were screened and assessed before they left the Jail. Whenever appropriate and possible, supervision restrictions were made a condition of release, and discharge planning for community-based support related to housing, mental health and drug treatment was arranged.”