At least 68 confirmed COVID-19 cases in outbreak at Mendocino County Jail

At least 68 inmates and corrections staff at the Mendocino County Jail have now tested positive for COVID-19 in the first widespread outbreak at the jail, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.

The dozens of newly identified infections were uncovered in an effort by Mendocino County health officials to test nearly all inmates and jail employees over the weekend after 20 people at the jail were found to have contracted the coronavirus last week.

As of Thursday afternoon, a total of 56 inmates―roughly 20% of the jail population―and nine jail employees had tested positive.

In addition, three prior inmates who have been recently released from custody tested positive and were handed off to Mendocino County health officials. They were either taken to a county health facility to complete their two-week isolation period or placed with family, said Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall.

Kendall said he expects additional test results to continue trickling in over the next few days.

The first sign the virus had spread to the jail came Dec. 19, when a corrections deputy reported his positive test to jail administrators. But Kendall said the source of the outbreak remains unclear.

The jail has had virus protocols in place since the start of the pandemic, Kendall said, including initially quarantining new inmates once they’re booked. Still, between deputies, corrections staff and arriving inmates, around 50 people enter the jail each day, he said.

“You can be right 99 out of 100 times, but it just takes one mistake,” Kendall said.

No inmates or employees have become seriously ill or been hospitalized, Kendall said. And jail medical staff are closely monitoring inmates in higher-risk groups for the virus.

The outbreak at the jail in Ukiah mirrors an ongoing surge in Mendocino County and across the state. Over the past two weeks, the county is averaging 26 new infections each day, up from six a day in early November, according to state data.

In Sonoma County, officials on Wednesday revealed an unprecedented spike in cases at the county jail this month. Since Nov. 30, 18 inmates at the facility have tested positive, making up about 30% of the 61 inmates at the facility who have tested positive for the virus since the onset of the pandemic in mid-March.

The Mendocino County outbreak is the second time the virus has been detected in the jail, which had at least one inmate tested positive in August.

By Thursday, the entire jail was placed under quarantine, Kendall said. Inmates who have tested positive are being placed in the same living quarters and kept isolated from other inmates for at least two weeks.

The jail currently houses about 250 inmates, down from around 300 prior to the pandemic, Kendall said. In an effort to prevent the virus from spreading in the facility, officials have continued to release lower-level offenders, which initially brought the total inmate population to under 200. But an uptick in crime as the pandemic has dragged on has cause the number of people held in the facility to steadily increase.

The Mendocino County Health Department and jail staff plan to continue testing inmates twice a week until the outbreak is under control, Kendall said. They will then move to randomized surveillance testing, possibly throughout the rest of the pandemic, in hopes of preventing another large outbreak.

You can reach Staff Writer Ethan Varian at ethan.varian@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5412. On Twitter @ethanvarian