A COVID-19 outbreak at the Santa Barbara County Jail has grown and now includes a total of 249 cases since it started on December 8, 2021, officials say.
The sheriff’s office says 28 new cases have been identified.
There are currently 37 active cases. Two hundred and eight inmates have recovered and four have been released. There are no current inmate hospitalizations.
The sheriff’s office says 200 of the inmates reported being asymptomatic.
“As we identify COVID-19 positive inmates, they are moved into an area of the facility that has negative pressure cells. In the case of an outbreak, only those with active symptoms are moved. The remainder are placed together in small groups (cohorts) and isolated from other inmates,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release, adding that inmates who are exposed but have not tested positive are also separated.
More than 200 inmates were recently moved to the new northern branch jail in Santa Maria, which officials say allowed them to decompress the population and control the spread of COVID at the Main Jail in Goleta.