Twelve people incarcerated at the Orange County Jail recently tested positive for COVID-19, according to the sheriff’s office.

A release from the office on Monday shared the news, saying the cluster of positive cases appears to have stemmed from one person who tested negative when entering the facility in prior days. After he reported not feeling well, the sheriff’s office said it ran another COVID-19 test and moved him into a single cell.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said all 12 positive cases are from the incarcerated population and all have been moved to a separate area of the county’s detention facility with HEPA air filtration. The release said no one who tests positive for the virus gets put into a cell with anyone negative.

Orange County Chief Deputy Jamison Sykes shared a statement in Monday’s release confirming that everyone who has tested positive so far are being safely monitored away from the negative incarcerated population.

“Unfortunately, we are hearing from jail professionals across the state that numbers of COVID cases within detention facilities are surging,” said Sykes. “Despite our best efforts, we are also experiencing this increase in our facility. We are working with the Orange County Health Department and with medical staff from Southern Health Partners to monitor infected people for any increasing medical needs.”

According to the sheriff’s office, all people who had been in contact with the initial positive incarcerated person received PCR diagnostic tests on Friday, which specifically screen for the presence of viral RNA. Some results from that batch of tests arrived Monday morning.

Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood detailed some changes the detention center made in 2020 to better protect those incarcerated at the facility, as well as sheriff’s deputies and other employees. Air scrubbers, as well as a low-pressure holding room for someone quarantining were among the additions. Officers leaving an area where positive inmates are housed must also change their gloves and personal protective equipment before entering another part of the facility, according to Monday’s release.

The sheriff’s office also said those incarcerated are given the opportunity each month to get vaccinated for COVID-19. The Orange County Health Department offers them Johnson & Johnson vaccines, as well as Pfizer vaccines. Monday’s release did not indicate whether the initial positive case in the detention center was a breakthrough case in a vaccinated individual.

The incarcerated population at the Orange County Detention Center as of Monday is 109 people.

Photo via the Orange County Sheriff’s Office

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