9 Santa Cruz County Jail Officers Test Positive For COVID-19

Courtney Teague
·1 min read

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — Nine correctional officers with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office are off of work after testing positive for COVID-19.

Another six officers who were in contact with those people have been quarantined, according to a news release from the sheriff's office. All officers and inmates will be tested over the next 72 hours, and treated or quarantined if necessary.

This marks the first outbreak at Santa Cruz County's jails, the sheriff's office said.

Contact tracers with the county's Health Services Agency are seeking to determine the origin of the outbreak. The sheriff's office said it will work with county health officials to minimize the chance that COVID-19 continues to spread in jails, despite the enhanced safety, screening and hygiene protocols that have been implemented since March.

There have been 4,529 COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Santa Cruz County since the beginning of the pandemic. There are 1,089 active known cases and 28 deaths have been linked to the virus.

This article originally appeared on the Santa Cruz Patch