The Santa Clara County jails are currently experiencing their highest level of active COVID-19 cases among the in-custody population, continuing a surge that began earlier this month and has now surpassed the peak of a record string of outbreaks in January.
Data reported in an online dashboard maintained by the sheriff’s office show that through Friday, there were 140 active infections in the jails, which consist of the Elmwood Correctional Complex in Milpitas and the Main Jail in San Jose. The majority of the current spike in cases is centered on the Elmwood facility, which houses people under minimum- and medium-security supervision primarily in barracks and dorm-style settings.
That figure represents a more than eight-fold increase since Nov. 3, when the spike began with 15 cases reported in a single day.
On Tuesday, the county recorded 30 cases in a single day, the biggest one-day tally since January, when winter-driven increases across the country were taking hold. But that was a time before vaccines were widely available, and the current surge in the South Bay jails still tops even that early-year stretch, when the highest active case count topped out at 127.
Vaccinations are available to people in jail custody upon request, the sheriff’s office said in a statement earlier this week. But inmates have complained to relatives — who in turn contacted this news organization — that booster shots have not been offered, and disputed the sheriff’s office contention that inmates were being provided masks three times a week or on demand.
The active-case count could also be underreporting the full spread of the virus in jail, because the online COVID-19 dashboard maintained by the sheriff’s office has a reporting lag between daily new cases and its total of active cases.
Deputy Russell Davis, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said some of the reported case spike is due to increased COVID-19 testing by the custody health division.
Several relatives of people being held in Elmwood said that M8, a four-unit men’s dorm that can house up to 60 people each and has been frequently hit with outbreaks, has been largely if not entirely evacuated. They requested not to be named for fear of retaliation against their loved ones for speaking out.
In a general statement, the sheriff’s office stated that “once an infection is identified in a housing area, custodial health and staff will immediately isolate the affected area to restrict the movement in/out of the housing unit. In addition, construction related repairs to our facility will cause temporary closures of housing areas.”
Since the initially recognized beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, the Santa Clara County jails have recorded through Friday 888 total COVID-19 infections, with 622 of them being acquired in custody — as opposed to testing positive upon booking.
In the first 15 days of January, the jails recorded 202 in-custody infections. In the first 11 days of November, that total is 139, which means that the two surges, pre- and post-vaccine, account for 55% of jail-contracted infections in the 20 months of the recognized pandemic period.
The infection risk at the jails has also ensnared staff. Cal/OSHA, the state’s workplace-injury watchdog, launched a formal inspection Oct. 26 after being alerted by the sheriff’s office that a correctional deputy was hospitalized for a COVID-19 infection contracted while on duty. An agency spokesperson confirmed that the deputy is assigned to the Elmwood jail.
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Source: www.mercurynews.com