Sonoma County Jail COVID outbreak spreads, 174 inmates, 20 deputies test positive

Nearly a quarter of the people detained at the Sonoma County Jail have tested positive for COVID-19 as the facility’s largest outbreak since the beginning of the pandemic rages into its third week.

At least 174 of the more than 700 inmates at the Main Adult Detention Facility in Santa Rosa have caught COVID-19 since the end of December, with 73 of them testing positive for the highly contagious omicron variant sometime since last Tuesday.

Also, as of Tuesday, 20 correctional deputies were out with COVID-19, according to Assistant Sheriff Eddie Engram, who oversees the jail.

Despite the virus’ continued spread, no inmates have been seriously ill or hospitalized, he said.

The outbreak began with a staff member testing positive for the infection on Dec. 28, and another on Dec. 29. Days later, two inmates in separate housing units tested positive. Those units were immediately placed on lockdown, meaning that no one can leave and only correctional deputies can enter, barring a medical emergency.

The jail’s numbers are spiking as the virus surges both locally and nationally, fueled by the highly transmissible omicron variant.

Active COVID-19 cases in Sonoma County have exploded from 2,000 around Christmas to over 18,000 as of Tuesday. The positivity rate, or the proportion of diagnostic tests that return positive for COVID-19, is 21.6% — more than double the positivity rate during last year's winter surge.

Despite the jail’s early efforts to isolate the infected, the airborne virus has since spread to two more detention units. Authorities have locked down a total of 304 inmates in the four units where those who’ve tested positive are being detained, according to Engram.

The isolation protocol will be lifted for each of the four affected units once every person within them tests negative at least twice for 10 days.

“One of those (units) may be clearing in the next couple weeks, provided they continue to return negative tests,” Engram said.

As the outbreak expands, some local defense attorneys are growing increasingly concerned about the well-being of their incarcerated clients, as well as their ability to communicate with them.

Everyone inside is locked in their cells for about 23.5 hours a day, according to Heather Wise, a private attorney based in Santa Rosa.

“That means they have about 20 minutes a day to do anything out of the cell — call loved ones, call defense counsel, take a shower, anything like that,” Wise said. This vastly hinders her ability to speak with her clients.

While inmates’ out-of-cell time has been limited throughout the pandemic, an ongoing staffing shortage caused by the outbreak has made things worse, Wise said.

Engram confirmed that low staffing is contributing to the reduction in out-of-cell time, but he added that inmates are still provided some time every day as required by law. He did not specify how much out-of-cell time inmates in the four affected areas get.

Though Wise is technically allowed inside the isolating units to talk to her clients, she said doing so would put herself and the outside community at risk.

In court on Tuesday, Wise said she requested that a client’s hearing on a probation violation be moved to a later date because he, currently, can only appear in court via Zoom. She believes this is complicating his right to receive fair representation.

“We have absolutely no way to communicate with them confidentially,” Wise said of her incarcerated clients. “If a client and an attorney can’t have confidential communications during a hearing, due process can’t be done.

“The people in power have a responsibility to tackle these problems,” she added.

All staff inside the jail, whether in corrections or administration, are required to wear N95 masks, Engram said.

Meanwhile, inmates wear cloth facial coverings, which are far less effective at preventing transmission of COVID-19, according to the CDC.

Engram said he is working with public health officials to find an alternative, as N95 masks cannot be given to inmates because of the metal nose bridge pieces.

The most effective way to gain control of this outbreak is concerted vaccinations, said Dr. Ele Lozares-Lewis, who works at the jail once a month as an HIV consultant.

“It’s almost inevitable that we would end up with outbreaks without more of our population being vaccinated — vulnerable populations especially,” Lozares-Lewis said. “My biggest worry is people are kind of digging in their heels.”

You can reach Staff Writer Emily Wilder at 707-521-5337 or emily.wilder@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @vv1lder.