13 Orange County Jail Inmates Test Positive For Coronavirus

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — The number of Orange County Jail inmates testing positive for new coronavirus stands at 13, sheriff's officials say. Several others are in isolation, as they have not yet tested positive for the virus, according to spokeswoman Carrie Braun of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Braun reported that twelve of the afflicted inmates are men and one is a woman. Three patients have since recovered from the illness.

The ten inmates still experiencing symptoms of the disease COVID-19 were in medical isolation, according to Braun.

As of Monday, in Orange County, 1,283 total residents tested positive for the virus, and 19 of those people have died due to the illness. There are 11 inmates in medical isolation because "they were showing symptoms of the virus but had not tested positive," Braun said.

The OC Jail system is no longer accepting inmates in the men's and women's jails, Braun said. They are also not transferring any inmates at this time, she added.
All newly booked inmates are also being quarantined, she said.

Last week, the sheriff's department tallied their headcount at "under 4,000 inmates," according to Sheriff Don Barnes.

That number of inmates is down significantly from 5,200 inmates at the beginning of March.

The department released 331 inmates shortly before their sentences were up. Of those, 108 were "at-risk" due to their age and underlying health risks, and all were serving terms for "non-violent crimes."

This article originally appeared on the San Juan Capistrano Patch