11 more California Men’s Colony employees, inmates test positive for COVID-19
Two additional employees and nine more inmates at the California Men’s Colony tested positive for coronavirus, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
San Luis Obispo County’s coronavirus-tracking website inaccurately reported the case count among CMC inmates for the past week — and now the county has taken down their CMC data altogether, noting that all inmate data can be found on CDCR’s website.
The county was told by the state Tuesday that there is an issue with the electronic system for lab records, resulting in a statewide delay in case reporting, which has affected overall data at the county level, according to county Public Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein.
The county is currently not including CMC inmates in their overall case county of 1,970 COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday.
Santa Barbara County officials and lawmakers set a precedent for excluding the number of coronavirus cases at state prison’s from a county’s overall case count when the state agreed to not include COVID-19 cases at the Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex when considering the county’s ability to reopen in May.
In the last two weeks, 86 inmates and nine employees at CMC have tested positive for COVID-19.
The CMC experienced a smaller coronavirus outbreak in May that infected 11 inmates and three employees — all who have since recovered, according to the CDCR.
Only one person who tested positive in the last 14 days, an employee, has recovered from the most recent outbreak, according to CDCR data.
In total, 97 inmates and 12 employees at the state prison in San Luis Obispo have tested positive for coronavirus since mid-March.
Despite reporting issues, San Luis Obispo County public health officials are aware of the outbreak and are working closely with CMC to mitigate any further spread.
The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department has partnered with the CDCR to conduct widespread testing and contact tracing investigations.
According to the CDCR, 567 of the 3,459 incarcerated people at the prison have been tested for coronavirus in the last 14 days as of Thursday.
The CDCR also requires that employees are tested in 14-day cycles, resulting in about 1,400 CMC employees tested every two weeks, according to Lt. John Hill, CDCR public information officer.
Ongoing testing for prison employees is conducted through a vendor secured by CDCR to help alleviate local public health labs across the state, according to a CDCR news release.
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,” a CDCR statement sent Tuesday read.
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 did not provide information as to how the virus entered the prison.
