120 Sonoma County jail staff, inmates given coronavirus tests after facility’s first case

Sonoma County Jail officials are awaiting test results for 120 staff and inmates who were screened for the coronavirus Wednesday and Thursday, part of a detection effort that began hours after public health workers discovered a local inmate tested positive for the respiratory disease COVID-19.

Among those tested after the first confirmed case at the facility were 70 staff members who work there. A portion of the workers were given priority testing Wednesday evening because they were found to have had direct contact with the inmate who tested positive, Sonoma County Assistant Sheriff Al Vernon said.

Those workers were asked to self isolate pending the results of their tests. Employees with a lower risk of having contracted the virus from the inmate, but who still wanted to be tested, did so Thursday morning outside the jail.

Public health workers then moved inside, where they administered an additional 50 tests for inmates throughout the facility, Vernon said. The first test results could come as early as Friday.

“They’re retesting inmates in the (housing unit) with the positive test and they are doing additional random testing throughout the jail,” Vernon said. “We’re doing that testing out of an abundance of caution.”

Vernon provided few details about the inmate who tested positive, citing privacy protections of health information, though he did say the inmate was housed alone when staff were notified of the positive test Wednesday morning.

After the positive test, the inmate was immediately transferred into a negative pressure cell, Vernon said. Such cells are designed to isolate inmates with airborne diseases and protect the general jail population.

The case was detected as part of ongoing coronavirus testing for new inmates at the facility, who are isolated for 14 days before being moved to areas of the jail with longer-term inmates.

The inmate’s positive test for the virus prompted Presiding Judge Bradford DeMeo to issue an order barring all inmates from physically appearing in court, though they are allowed to attend hearings virtually, as has been done in some instances in recent weeks to reduce the number of people in local courtrooms.

The results of the tests will guide how officials at Sonoma County Superior Court move forward with cases involving defendants housed at the jail, said Vernon, who met with court staff after he was notified of the sick inmate.

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com.