Press Release

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Wednesday, May 6, 2020

In mid-March, Contra Costa Health Services ("CCHS") started testing people with symptoms for COVID-19 as they were booked into the jail. Inmates who test positive are put into clinical isolation. All other inmates booked into the facility are placed in a 14-day health care quarantine and screened for symptoms twice daily. Recently, CCHS has expanded testing to include proactive testing of inmates without symptoms. To date, 53 tests have been performed in the jail.

On May 5, 2020, one person booked into custody at the Martinez Detention Facility tested positive for COVID-19 during proactive, asymptomatic testing of inmates. That person, who remained in quarantine following booking, has been placed in clinical isolation at the facility where CCHS doctors and nurses are caring for the inmate who is in stable condition.

Since the person with a positive test is in isolation, there is a minimal risk of infecting others housed elsewhere in the jail. Healthcare staff and sheriff's personnel are, and have been, wearing proper personal protective equipment and taking other precautions to protect themselves and prevent further transmission of the virus. CCHS is doing a "contact tracing" investigation to identify close contacts of the inmate so they can be placed under quarantine and/or tested.

Our deliberative and comprehensive screening process identified this inmate early and allowed us to take necessary precautions to minimize the spread. We are continuing to proactively test people booked into the jails.

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