Positive tests in Tulare County, death at Avenal prison add to coronavirus inmate toll
Coronavirus outbreaks in central San Joaquin Valley detention facilities spread this week to Tulare County and also apparently claimed the life of another Avenal State Prison inmate.
Just a day after the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office announced a triple-digit increase in its number of positive results among inmates for COVID-19, Tulare County late Friday said 11 in jail there had contracted the coronavirus.
More than 200 tests had been administered earlier in the week at Tulare County’s jail facilities, according to the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office.
Those who tested positive were quarantined at the Tulare County Pre-trial Facility and were being monitored by medical staff. Cells were disinfected and deep cleaned, the Sheriff’s Office stated.
Staff and other inmates possibly exposed to COVID-19 currently are being tested or awaiting results.
On Thursday, 108 inmates inside Fresno County’s North Annex jail tested positive. The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said it administered 1,200 tests this week, with most of those still outstanding.
Just 400 results have come back. The other 800 were expected by Saturday, but department spokesman Tony Botti said those results were still pending.
A week earlier, 13 inmates transferred from the Fresno jail tested positive after their arrival at Wasco State Prison.
Jails and prisons have tried to stop the spread of coronavirus by restricting access for visitors and others during the pandemic.
Botti offered advice to friends and relatives trying to reach inmates.
“We understand some of you have loved ones in the jail and would like to hear from them. Please do not call our jail to try and reach an individual inmate,” Botti said. “We are not staffed to conduct this type of service. Inmates have full access to telephones and may call you. If they are choosing not to call you and you wish to contact them, please mail them a letter, via U.S. mail.”
Those who write letters should address them to the Fresno County Jail, Attn: Inmate’s name; add the inmate’s JID and booking numbers (these can be obtained through the inmate search function online); P.O. Box 872; Fresno, CA 93712.
Avenal State Prison death
The death of an Avenal State Prison inmate is believed to be the third there connected to COVID-19 and the 21st statewide among prisoners, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced Saturday.
“We sincerely regret to inform you that an incarcerated person from Avenal State Prison (ASP) died June 26 at an outside hospital from what appear to be complications related to COVID-19, the CDCR stated in a news release. “The exact cause of death has not yet been determined.”
Forty-five inmates currently in custody at the Avenal prison are positive for the coronavirus, 15 of those in the past 14 days, according to the state’s COVID-19 inmate tracking report. Another 857 cases at Avenal are considered resolved.
Statewide, there are 2,112 inmates in custody with active cases of COVID-19. Corcoran State Prison — like Avenal, also in Kings County — has 128 active, in-custody cases with 57 in the past 14 days. Another 27 cases in Corcoran are considered resolved; there have been no deaths reported there.
At least 391 employees from the CDCR and California Correctional Health Care Services have active cases (735 cumulative, with 344 having returned to work).
This story was originally published June 27, 2020 at 4:48 PM.
