After the news from Lake and Mendocino, I reached out to HCSO.
HCSO PIO Samantha Karges said, "We have not had any inmates test positive in our facility as of this date. We are unable to speak on parolees or probationers."
I contacted CDCR Press Secretary Dana Simas.
The Mendocino County District Attorney shared the following information with the public today.
A former state prison inmate released from custody at the start of April under an early release plan is among the six positive COVID-19 cases in Lake County. Sheriff Brian Martin confirmed the case.
The male prisoner was released from the California Institution for Men in Chino on April 6 as part of an early release program the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced last month, according to Dana Simas, the agency’s press secretary.
Simas said the male subject was asymptomatic in a “comprehensive screening” conducted by institution medical staff before he was released to return to Lake County.
She said his regularly scheduled release date was April 10, and CDCR cannot legally hold someone past their release date.
“He was told to self-quarantine until April 20 and was provided a facial barrier to wear while in-transit to his county of release,” she said.
The man’s positive case of COVID-19 ultimately would be identified by a Lake County Public Health nurse conducting contact tracing, according to Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace.
“I think it’s pretty irresponsible the way it was handled,” said Sheriff Martin, citing safety concerns for the general public and for law enforcement coming in contact with the individual.
Lake County’s positive COVID-19 cases were confirmed by Public Health on April 5, 6, 8, 10, 13 and 15, as Lake County News has reported.
As of Monday, five are reported to have recovered, with one case still active, according to the Lake County Public Health COVID-19 dashboard. There have been no deaths.
Pace would not respond to questions about which of the county’s latter cases involved the former prison inmate.
Breakdowns in communication.
While CDCR and the Lake County Public Health Department communicated about the case, neither of those agencies reached out to proactively inform either the Lake County Sheriff’s Office or the Lake County Probation Department that the inmate had tested positive for COVID-19.
“I wasn’t informed until I asked and had to do some investigation to get to the bottom of this,” said Martin.
Martin said he had been notified by CDCR on April 2 that several inmates were to be returned to the county due to the early release plan.
Martin said he went to Pace to ask if any state prison inmates being returned to Lake County had tested positive for COVID-19. Pace confirmed it to Martin on Monday morning.
Sheriff Martin’s confirmation of the situation comes days after Mendocino County Public Health Officer Dr. Noemi Doohan reported that county’s fifth case was a state parolee on early release.
The highest case counts are at facilities in Los Angeles and Chino, which had 60 and 58 cases, respectively, as of Monday night, at which point one death also had been confirmed at Chino.
This is the complete article in the Lake County News
https://www.lakeconews.com/index.php/news/65132-former-state-prison-inmate-on-early-release-among-lake-county-s-confirmed-covid-19-cases
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