LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said that a Lake County Jail inmate who tested positive for COVID-19 appears to have been an isolated case.
On May 4, the sheriff’s office received testing results that confirmed that one inmate had tested positive after a specimen was collected on April 19, as Lake County News has reported.
It was Lake County’s eighth confirmed case of COVID-19.
The inmate was isolated and has since been tested again, on May 4 and 6. Lt. Corey Paulich said the results of those two latest tests were negative and the inmate is now considered recovered.
Paulich said that, since May 4, the sheriff’s office has been working cooperatively with Lake County Public Health to conduct contact tracing to identify staff and inmates who had close contact with the COVID-19 positive inmate.
Twenty inmates who had close contact have been tested and all had negative results, Paulich said.
“We continue to test jail staff and results that have been received so far have been negative,” Paulich said.
Paulich said that, at this time, it appears the positive case was an isolated one and did not lead to an outbreak or additional cases.
On March 12, the sheriff's office instituted and continues enhanced measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the jail.
Those measures include suspending jail programs and visitation, screening all staff prior to entry to the facility, placing inmates who are in custody for minor offenses on home detention, enhanced medical screening at booking, wearing of face masks by staff, designating bed spaces for isolation and quarantine, and comprehensive regular cleaning and disinfecting.
“We believe this played a significant role in the prevention of additional cases,” said Paulich.
Paulich said the sheriff’s office is working with the jail’s medical provider and Lake County Public Health to develop a plan for ongoing surveillance testing of staff and inmates. Any inmate with relevant symptomology will be tested and isolated until results are received.
He said the sheriff’s office also will be working with the medical provider and Public Health to remove the affected inmates from medical isolation per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations based on “symptom-based strategy.”
To learn more about all the steps being taken to keep everyone in our custody safe and healthy, visit www.lakesheriff.com and explore the Coronavirus 2019 response plan.
Sheriff’s office: COVID-19 positive inmate an isolated case
- Lake County News reports
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