50 California Men’s Colony inmates, employees test positive for COVID-19 amid new outbreak
The California Men’s Colony is experiencing another coronavirus outbreak — and it’s much larger than the one that hit the state prison in May.
According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 43 inmates and seven employees at the state prison in San Luis Obispo have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past two weeks as of Tuesday.
“Over the past few days, California Men’s Colony has seen an increase in the number of incarcerated people testing positive for COVID-19,” a CDCR statement said.
Two inmates received positive coronavirus test results July 30, according to the CDCR website.
By Aug. 1, 42 inmates at the facility had tested positive for COVID-19, with one additional inmate testing positive two days later.
In response to the outbreak, the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department tested 309 of the 3,469 inmates at the prison, according to the CDCR.
In addition to testing through the county Public Health Department, CDCR secured a vendor to conduct ongoing mandatory staff testing, according to a news release.
About 1,4000 CMC employees are tested every 14 days, according to Lt. John Hill, CDCR public information officer.
To mitigate the spread of COVID-19, CMC has “restricted all inmate movement and implemented a modified program in the entire institution to facilitate expanded testing of the incarcerated population,” the CDCR statement read.
The CDCR said the state prison is working with the San Luis Obispo County Health Department to conduct tests as well as contact investigations.
The Public Health Department told The Tribune it is working with CMC to develop a plan to mitigate the spread.
The CDCR added that CMC cleans and sanitizes common spaces regularly and follows isolation and quarantine protocols.
The prison has issued face coverings to all inmates and employees and requires that they wear them.
Any person entering the prison is screened for coronavirus symptoms, the CDCR said.
The CDCR’s statement did not address how coronavirus entered the facility.
When asked about the increased spread of COVID-19 at CMC, Hill told The Tribune that the CDCR cannot provide a reason as to why this outbreak was significantly larger than the previous incident.
“At this point, any answer I provide to your first question regarding a reason for the increase in cases would be speculative, and I don’t want to go down that road,” Hill wrote in an email to The Tribune. “I can say with confidence, as soon as CMC reported a positive case among the incarcerated population, the institution immediately began working with San Luis Obispo County public health officials.”
In total, 54 inmates and 10 employees tied to the facility have tested positive for COVID-19 since mid-March.
The 11 inmates who tested positive for COVID-19 in May have all since recovered. Three employees who tested positive during the May outbreak have also recovered and returned to work, according to the CDCR.
None of the infected inmates or employees have needed to be hospitalized as of Tuesday, according to Hill.
This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 10:53 AM.
