Number of Coronavirus Cases at Santa Rita Jail Jumps by 3 Bringing Total to 15
DUBLIN (CBS SF) -- The number of inmates at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin who have tested positive for the new coronavirus increased by three on Friday to a total of 15, the Alameda County sheriff's office said.
In addition, two staff members or contractors at the county jail have tested positive for COVID-19 but that's the same number that the sheriff's office reported on Thursday.
Sheriff's officials said 54 inmates at Santa Rita have been tested so far, with 37 testing negative, 15 positive and two results still pending.
Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly said on Friday that the 15 inmates who tested positive for COVID-19 are stable and haven't had to be hospitalized.
The number of inmates who've tested positive for COVID-19 has increased dramatically in the last week, as the first positive test wasn't reported until last Saturday, followed by upticks to three on Tuesday, 11 on Wednesday and 12 on Thursday.
Kelly said, "We're definitely trending upward but it's something we can manage and there are no serious issues with our jail population."
Kelly said jail officials have been able to spread inmates out to decrease the risk of infections as the jail population has been reduced from an average of about 2,650 inmates before the COVID-19 outbreak to 1,963 inmates as of Friday.
He said the number of inmates has decreased because county court officials agreed to release about 600 low-level offenders and the jail is accepting fewer new inmates than it did in the past, as Sheriff Gregory Ahern has told local police agencies to cite and release low-level offenders instead of bringing them to Santa Rita.
"There's a lot more space because we're at the lowest level of inmates in decades," Kelly said.
He said that when he started working for the sheriff's office 25 years ago Santa Rita had about an average of 5,000 inmates.
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