The following press release was issued by the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office:
On August 18, 2021, jail medical staff from our contract provider NaphCare, in conjunction with Mendocino County Public Health, performed testing of all inmates in response to the increased number of positive cases that were being detected during the booking process and because of the increase of COVID-19 cases in the community. During that testing, six male inmates and one female inmate tested positive for the virus.
Four prior cases were identified during the booking process and were immediately quarantined upon entry into the facility, bringing our current COVID-19 cases to eleven.
Jail medical staff currently tests all arrestees prior to entry into the jail. Any person that stays in jail goes through a ten-day quarantine prior to going into any general population housing unit. During that quarantine, inmates are monitored by medical staff and tested prior to their release into other housing.
Correctional staff have been undergoing mandatory COVID-19 testing twice a week since December 2020. On August 16, 2021, all Corrections staff began testing daily in response to the increase in community spread.
There are currently three Corrections Deputies that have tested positive; two were detected by our screening process and one was detected through off-site testing.
