Santa Barbara County Main Jail reports another coronavirus outbreak

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. -- Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office reports a new outbreak at the Main Jail on Wednesday afternoon.

County Sheriff's say 19 inmates tested positive and they are currently being managed at the Santa Barbara County Jail.

On Tuesday, County Sheriff's says several inmates housed together in the male basement dormitory reported symptoms of COVID-19 to staff.

Inmates in two separate housing units were tested for the virus.

26 out of 60 inmates tested positive for the virus.

They were re-housed in order to quarantine.

County Sheriff's say they are doing a routine surveillance testing of those inmates who were negative and that they will continue to test them for the next 14 days to make sure these inmates did not contact the virus.

All inmates that tested positive are being monitored and are receiving treatment by jail medical staff.

County Sheriff's are conducting contact tracing efforts to identify the source of the outbreak.

County Sheriff's say all staff members are required to wear personal protective equipment to keep themselves and others safe. Employees also go through a routine surveillance testing for COVID-19 in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus.

This brings the total of 187 COVID cases that have happened at the main jail. 121 people have recovered with 32 active cases within the jail.