Twenty-one more Santa Barbara County Jail inmates have tested positive for COVID-19.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office says the results came after 66 inmates, who had been exposed to an inmate who previously tested positive for COVID-19, in one area of the jail were tested.
Of the latest positive cases, the sheriff’s office says only two inmates are symptomatic. They have reportedly been moved into negative airflow cells.
The other 19 asymptomatic inmates “are being housed together in a contained area of the jail and are being monitored by custody and medical staff regularly,” according to a press release.
The 45 inmates who tested negative after the latest testing will reportedly be re-tested for COVID-19 in about a week.
To date, 63 inmates at the jail have tested positive for COVID-19.
There are currently 33 active cases being monitored or treated at the Santa Barbara County Jail and officials say all those cases were contracted within the facility.
Another nineteen inmates have recovered and 10 have been released from custody. One inmate who tested positive for COVID-19 has died.
The sheriff’s office has also seen positive cases among staff.