SLO County Jail COVID outbreak ends after 70 people test positive for virus, sheriff says
A COVID-19 outbreak at the San Luis Obispo County Jail that sickened 70 people is officially over, according to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office.
In total, 63 jail inmates and seven sworn staff members tested positive for coronavirus as the result of the outbreak, which began Dec. 10, the Sheriff’s Office said in a Wednesday news release.
According to the release, the San Luis Obispo County Jail has implemented a number of safety measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including isolating symptomatic individuals, limiting outside visitors, increasing cleaning measures and quarantining anyone entering the facility or exposed to the virus.
In addition, the jail screens staff daily for coronavirus symptoms and requires personal protective equipment, the release said.
The Sheriff’s Office said jail staff were “offered the COVID-19 vaccine last week,” but did not clarify how many people received the vaccine.
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tony Cipolla said that the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department vaccinated approximately 70 of 180 sworn and non-sworn jail staffers during the first two weeks the COVID vaccine was offered.
Cipolla said that vaccination at the jail is an ongoing process, noting that more staffers will be vaccinated as county health officials receive more doses.
The county Public Health Department decided to offer coronavirus vaccines to jail staff as part of its 1B Tier 1 vaccination phase in a move supported by the county COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force, the Sheriff’s Office said.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, a total of 84 inmates, 16 patrol deputies and 20 correctional deputies have tested positive for COVID-19 since March 2020.
