A man was booked into Fresno County Jail. Then he said he was positive for COVID-19
A man booked into Fresno County Jail previously had tested positive for coronavirus, the Sheriff’s Office confirmed, with the department only learning about the test result after the suspect entered a jail holding area.
Fresno police took the suspect to the jail for booking Friday, and the man passed the routine pre-screening process, which included having his temperature taken, checking his vitals and evaluating him for any symptoms of illness, according to a statement issued Sunday.
All suspects booked into jail undergo the screening process, said Tony Botti, a sheriff’s office spokesman.
The man successfully cleared the screening, but once he was in a holding area told a correctional officer he recently tested positive for COVID-19, according to the statement. The correctional officer confirmed with a local hospital that the suspect did test positive.
“The suspect was presented as asymptomatic, so he did not raise any red flags with medical staff during pre-screening,” Botti said in an email to The Fresno Bee.
The man is housed in a quarantine area and isolated from others in the jail, Botti said. All areas he passed through were immediately closed down and disinfected.
The sheriff’s office did not identify the suspect nor say what kind of offense he was booked for into jail. The man initially did not even indicate he had any current or recent illnesses, according to the sheriff’s office.
It marked the jail’s second brush with the pandemic in about a week.
Authorities last week sought out a man who tested positive for COVID-19 but had been released earlier in the month. The 18-year-old suspect arrived to be booked but was taken to the hospital because he exhibited symptoms consistent with coronavirus. He was tested and returned to an isolated area of the jail.
Eligible for $0 bail release, in line with guidelines issued by the state Judicial Council, he was released from custody. Then on Tuesday, his COVID-19 test result returned, and he tested positive. Authorities later found him in Fresno, and confirmed he was quarantined.
Four Fresno police officers and a K-9 who came into contact with that suspect were quarantined.
In an effort to reduce the spread of coronavirus in an environment that leaves them exposed to the highly contagious illness and to meet the Judicial Council deadline, nearly 430 inmates had walked out of Fresno County Jail as of April 13.
This story was originally published April 19, 2020 at 2:46 PM.