LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reported today that 297 employees have tested positive for COVID-19 since the coronavirus pandemic began, along with 1,982 jail inmates.
According to statistics released Wednesday, 416 department employees are currently quarantined, and 1,564 have returned to work after being quarantined.
Of the 297 employees who tested positive, 211 are sworn personnel and the remainder are civilian personnel. Of the 416 employees currently quarantined, 296 are sworn personnel and the remainder are civilian personnel. And of the 1,564 employees who have returned to work after being quarantined, 1,095 are sworn personnel and the remainder are civilian.
In the jail system, 5,197 inmates are currently quarantined, and 235 are in isolation. Of those in isolation, 172 have tested positive and the remainder have been tested, but results are pending.
Isolation is defined as being for “individuals who have a temperature of 100.4 or higher and are exhibiting symptoms of an upper respiratory infection,'' while quarantine is for “individuals who have had close contact of 10 minutes or more with a person currently under observation.''
On Monday, Barbara Ferrer, L.A. County's public health director, confirmed the county's first known case of a jail inmate dying due to the virus.
More information is available on the department's coronavirus updates page, https://lasd.org/covid19updates.