Amid a COVID-19 outbreak at a North Bay homeless shelter, Sonoma County health officials are now also managing a new surge among inmates at their jail.
Thirty-one inmates at the Sonoma County Jail have tested positive for COVID since last Friday, the second time the jail has seen a steep rise in cases during the pandemic.
In addition, 12 members of the jail staff have also been placed on a 14-day quarantine due to potential exposure.
Under the current protocol, when inmates enter the jail, they are isolated for four days, then placed in a small group for 14 days before being added to the general population.
Sgt. Juan Valencia with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office department told KCBS Radio that, luckily, these cases were caught early.
“The good news is that they were already in that 14-day quarantine period, so they were able to catch it there before it spread to the main jail,” he said.
The pandemic has kept the jail’s population lower than normal as it currently holds 730 inmates.
Vaccines are offered but not required for inmates, and Valencia admitted it’s been a challenge getting inmates to agree to receive the shot.
“We have a very low percentage of inmates that actually do want to get the vaccine, we make it as simple as possible,” he said.
Valencia added that jail officials are confident they can keep any new inmates isolated from the virus.
