As the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office reports a sharp rise of COVID-19 infections among staff and jail inmates, photos have surfaced of an unmasked party earlier this month attended by jail deputies.
The Mercury News reported images of the December 6 party were posted on a jail deputy’s Facebook profile, which was registered under an alias. Several of those in attendance were reportedly jail supervisors or deputies.
The sheriff’s office told the paper it was not aware of the off-duty party until asked about it, and that it was reviewing the event.
Santa Clara County was one of several Bay Area jurisdictions that chose to opt in to the state's regional stay-at-home order, which would have taken effect the same day as the reported party. However, state guidelines discouraging gatherings of the same size were already in place at the time.
A new outbreak at the county's main jail involves nearly 30 inmates.
As of Wednesday, 19 correctional deputies, 11 patrol deputies and five civilian employees were listed with active coronavirus infections.
Since December 1, the number of active staff cases rose from 10 to 36.
