Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office reports additional staff tests positive for COVID-19

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. -- Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office reports additional staff members testing positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday.

An additional Deputy, Custody Deputy and two civilian staff members tested positive for COVID-19.

The Deputy last worked on December 23 and became symptomatic on December 24. The Deputy was tested and found to be COVID-19 positive on Tuesday.

The Custody Deputy, who is asymptomatic, was tested as part of employee surveillance testing on Tuesday. They were notified that the test was positive on Wednesday.

The first civilian staff member working remotely and was reported to be COVID-19 positive on Monday.

The second civilian staff member, who was said to be asymptomatic, last worked on December 9 and was tested on Monday. Their results came back positive on Tuesday.

The Sheriff's Office says all staff members consistently wore masks while at work.

This brings the total number of Sheriff’s Office employees who have tested positive for COVID-19 during the entire pandemic to 79.