California Men’s Colony employee tests positive for coronavirus
California Men’s Colony reported Thursday that an employee has tested positive for COVID-19, one day after the prison announced its second positive coronavirus case among its inmate population.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation does not report how many of its employees statewide have been tested for the illness, but updated figures released by the agency late Thursday states that one employee self-reported their positive diagnosis.
CMC Lt. John Hill, a spokesman for the facility, confirmed CDCR’s figures when reached by email and said the agency would be releasing more information Thursday night.
The first positive corovirus case of an inmate was confirmed at the prison April 11.
Across California, a total of 753 state inmates have been tested for the virus; as of Thursday, 152 have tested positive.
That figure does not include inmates being held at federal prisons in California.
At Lompoc Federal Penitentiary in Santa Barbara County, 96 inmates had tested positive as of Tuesday. The prison has partnered with the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department to build a temporary 100-bed hospital on the penitentiary’s grounds in coming days.
The California Men’s Colony, on the outskirts of San Luis Obispo, is an all-male minimum- to medium-security state prison, with roughly 3,800 inmates and 1,800 employees.
