Sacramento County supervisor asks if jail inmate release is needed to contain COVID outbreak
A Sacramento County supervisor this week asked whether health officials need to ask the court for the release of some jail inmates as a COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread the disease among those in custody.
Supervisor Phil Serna asked whether the county health services department should seek a release from custody or home detention for some inmates awaiting trial on misdemeanor or “low risk” charges to contain the recent outbreak of nearly 200 confirmed COVID cases at both county jail facilities.
“Something other than keeping them in an environment where you’re more likely to have them continue to contaminate or infect others in the jail,” Serna said Tuesday evening during the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors meeting.
Chevon Kothari, the director of county health services, said there have been 191 confirmed COVID-19 cases, as of Tuesday afternoon, among jail inmates since the outbreak was confirmed Oct. 18. The number reflects the combined total for both the main jail in downtown Sacramento and the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center near Elk Grove.
“Some (of the infected inmates) are now out of quarantine and sort of out-of-the-woods, if you will,” Kothari told the Board of Supervisors.
As of Wednesday, there were 35 inmates in custody who have tested positive for COVID-19 at the downtown jail, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office. There were 116 inmates at RCC who have tested positive for a total of 151 at both jails.
County health officials say the total number for both jails was six COVID cases on Oct. 6.
As of Oct. 20, the same week jail staff confirmed the outbreak, there were 32 inmates in custody who had tested positive at the downtown jail and 37 inmates at RCCC for a total of 69. In the following weekly update on Oct. 27, the Sheriff’s Office reported 75 inmates in custody had tested positive for COVID — 34 at the main jail and 41 at RCCC.
Majority of infected inmates asymptomatic
Kothari said a majority of the cases are linked to the outbreak, but some of them are inmates who tested positive when they arrived at the jail. She said a majority of the inmates are not symptomatic.
“Most inmates who get COVID-19 are asymptomatic, but we have seen more symptomatic patients during this current outbreak than we did during than last,” Kothari said during her COVID-19 report to supervisors.
As of Oct. 28, all but one of the jail COVID cases confirmed during this outbreak have been inmates who were unvaccinated, she said.
“And we are checking on the vaccination status on the (positive) tests we got today,” Kothari said Tuesday evening.
During a Tuesday morning news conference outside the county administration building, Decarcerate Sacramento activists said many who have contracted COVID-19 during the recent outbreak were fully vaccinated before becoming infected. Jael Barnes of Decarcerate Sacramento said her husband, who is in custody awaiting trial, is vaccinated and recently tested positive for COVID; the second time he has contracted the disease. at the jail
County health officials on Monday evening announced that a 76-year-old jail inmate died at a hospital after testing positive for COVID-19 last week. Kothari said he died Monday morning and was vaccinated in June 2021 while in custody.
Sheriff Scott Jones has said all new inmates are tested for COVID-19, and inmates since July have been offered the vaccine in exchange for a $20 jail commissary incentive funded by a federal COVID-19 grant.
On Tuesday, Kothari said all jail staff, including correctional health staff, are required to be vaccinated against COVID or receive weekly tests. She said 95% of the correctional health staff had been vaccinated as of Tuesday.
County health officials say inmates who test positive for COVID-19, those with symptoms awaiting test results, inmates with no symptoms but who have come into close contact with infected people and new inmates who arrive at the jail facilities are housed in one of four quarantine jail pods in accordance with health safety protocols. The quarantined inmates are placed in separate pods based on those criteria.
No medication to fight COVID at the jail
During the recent outbreak, one other jail inmate was hospitalized. Kothari said that inmate was taken to an emergency room for treatment and has since returned to jail custody.
Supervisor Sue Frost asked what type of medication is provided at the jail for inmates who test positive for COVID and exhibit symptoms.
Sandy Damiano, the deputy director who oversees correctional health within the Department of Health Services, said nurses and doctors at the jail monitor inmates with routine temperature checks, oxygen saturation checks and symptom screenings. The medical staff at the jail will then determine when an inmate should be taken to a hospital for further treatment.
Damiano told Frost that medical staff at the hospital determines what medical treatment is needed; the inmates are not given medication at the jail to fight COVID symptoms. She also told supervisors the number of COVID-19 cases among inmates will continue to climb as staff conducts extensive testing at the jail.
“It just spreads very quickly once it spreads,” Damiano said during Tuesday’s meeting.
Serna asked whether there was something county Public Health Officer Olivia Kasirye could do in the form of a health order to reduce the jail population and contain the outbreak. Despite the efforts to monitor the spread at the jail, “the more people you keep confined in a close-quarters environment, its seems to me, you’re going to have a much greater challenge in containing the outbreak,” Serna said.
Kasirye said there was a provision during the pandemic that was used before to reduce the jail population to prevent further spread of COVID-19. But she said that provision has since ended, and she would have to consult with county counsel on the viability of Serna’s suggestion.
Kothari told Serna that a decision to reduce the jail population in under the purview of the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office and the Sheriff’s Office.
Damiano said health services staff have compiled a list of inmates with a clinical diagnosis that shows they are at risk or vulnerable to COVID. She said they have given that list to the Sheriff’s Office to consult with the court and the county’s Public Defender’s Office for a potential release of those inmates.
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 4:35 PM.
