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9 more custody staff, 3 inmates at Santa Barbara County Jail test positive for COVID-19

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SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. - The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office reported that three inmates at the Main Jail and nine jail custody staff tested positive for COVID-19.

Two of the inmates were reportedly housed in the Jail's general population and one of the inmates had been extradited from Arizona and was being held in quarantine.

The Sheriff's Office confirmed the inmates are not sick enough to require hospitalization. All three are being medically isolated in negative air pressure cells to prevent spreading the virus to anyone else in the jail.

The other inmates that were housed nearby have been tested, but their results came back negative.

The Sheriff's Office also explained that the nine custody staff who tested positive were tested after the previous nine staff members contracted the virus last week.

As of 12 p.m. on Friday, 322 employees and 155 inmates at the Main Jail have been tested for COVID-19.

In total, 18 custody staff members have tested positive. This includes eight civilian staff and 10 custody deputies including the Chief Custody Deputy.

The Sheriff's Office said no civilian staff came in contact with any inmates and neither have six of the custody deputies who work in administrative roles. The four remaining custody deputies did have contact with inmates, however, the contact was not made while the deputies had symptoms.

Article Topic Follows: Coronavirus

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Jessica Brest

Jessica Brest is a digital journalist and assignment editor for NewsChannel 3-12. To learn more about Jessica, click here.

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