31 inmates test positive for COVID at central California facility. One was fully vaccinated

More than two dozen inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 at a detention facility in Tulare County.

The outbreak took place at the Bob Wiley Detention Facility when an inmate reported feeling sick after returning from an appearance at Visalia Superior Court on Friday.

The inmate was fully vaccinated and wearing appropriate PPE while in the facility and at court, according to the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office. He was tested for COVID and the results were positive.

The sheriff’s office began contact tracing, testing and quarantine/isolation along with sanitizing within the facility.

Through this process, 31 inmates tested positive for COVID-19, the sheriff’s office said. Of those, two are showing symptoms and receiving appropriate medical care. The remaining inmates had no symptoms. All have been placed in isolation.

“The COVID-19 virus is an ongoing pandemic that is not resolved with a sprint to the finish line. It is going to be a marathon with an undetermined end point,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

“Sheriff Mike Boudreaux has had and continues to have a very robust plan and procedures in place at Tulare County Detention Facilities. The Sheriff and his command staff continue to work diligently to minimize the threat of COVID-19 in the jails.”

Last December, Tulare County reported 51 confirmed cases within the Bob Wiley Detention Center. The outbreak sparked concern among criminal justice advocates.

In July of last year, the ACLU and the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of inmates in Tulare County’s jails, accusing the sheriff of failing to implement state-mandated health protocols to protect inmates across the county’s five facilities.