MILPITAS – The number of Santa Clara County Prisoners Infected with COVID-19 Increased by 36 in a Single Day, nearly doubling the number of active cases in custody and capping a sharp New Year’s Eve peak, according to figures from Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office .
As of Tuesday, an online dashboard maintained by the sheriff’s office showed 74 active cases in detention in county prisons and over 60 new cases since December 31. Most of the raising took place in the Elmwood Men’s Prison in Milpitas, in dormitory-style units, where both inmates and prison staff said physical distancing was impractical and often impossible.
Sheriff’s sergeant. Michael Low confirmed that most of the new infections were reported in the M8 wing of Elmwood, which has four 68-bed modules. The men detained in those wings said two of the M8 dormitories had been completely removed, with detainees being relocated to quarantine units elsewhere in the property, including at least one section of the women’s prison.
Low said the sheriff’s office is tracking contacts to determine the source of the outbreak, but has so far not identified the source or sources.
“We are doing everything we can to mitigate the spread of this contagious virus and to protect the health and safety of everyone in our facilities and community,” Low wrote in an email.
However, several detainees and their relatives have contacted the news organization in recent days to reiterate the chronic dissatisfaction they expressed about the prison conditions amid the pandemic, including but not limited to allowances for modest clothing, lack of cleaning supplies and inconsistent compliance with Safety Protocols COVID-19.
A man detained in an M8 unit said he still sees prison deputies not wearing masks and that it is normal to see food carts rotating between living units without being disinfected. He added that the lack of supplies provided detainees to use their own towels or even clothes to clean their spaces.
“We see a lot of violations of the cleaning protocols,” said the man, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals. “We certainly feel insecure.”
Other detainees and their relatives continue to recall the concerns of public defenders and other lawyers about the interference between detainees in quarantine and non-quarantine units during transport to and from court. A woman who says her husband is quarantined in Elmwood says that because detainees are limited in their movement and where they can go, staff and other prison visitors have been neglected as vectors for the virus into the custody.
The woman, who also asked not to be named for retaliation for her husband, alluded to a report by this news organization about a holiday party involving correctional deputies who violated assembly restrictions and protocols. spacing and clothing, which coincided with an increase in infections with the prison deputy and an outbreak on wing 7B of the main prison, involving about 30 detainees.
“I strongly believe that the guards who gather for the holidays have contributed to this major outbreak within the facility,” she said.
To date, the sheriff’s office has recorded more than 360 custody-related COVID-19 infections, according to their online data. As coronavirus cases continue to rise in the Bay Area and statewide, county prisons have been immune-free, with previous peaks including nearly 100 inmates over a two-week period spanning July and August in the facility. Elmwood and an increase in wing 5B of the main prison in July.