MILPITAS – The number of Santa Clara County inmates infected with COVID-19 increased by 36 in a single day, nearly doubling the number of active cases in custody and limiting a sharp rise expected from New Year’s Eve, according to Santa Office figures from the sheriff of Clara County.
As of Tuesday, an online board maintained by the sheriff’s office showed 74 active cases of custody in county prisons and more than 60 new cases since Dec. 31. Most of the increase has occurred at Elmwood Men’s Prison in Milpitas, in units with dormitory-style configurations where inmates and prison staff have said physical distancing is impractical and often is impossible.
Sheriff’s sergeant. Michael Low confirmed that most of the new infections were reported in the M8 wing at Elmwood, which has four 68-bed modules. The men who were detained on these wings said two of the M8 dormitories have been completely cleaned, with inmates housed in quarantine units elsewhere on the property, including at least one section of the women’s prison.
Low said the sheriff’s office is tracking contacts to determine the source of the outbreak, but so far has not identified the source or sources.
“We are doing everything we can to mitigate the spread of this contagious virus and protect the health and safety of everyone at our facilities and the community,” Low wrote in an email.
But several inmates and their families have contacted this news organization in recent days to reiterate chronic grievances they have expressed about prison conditions amid the pandemic, including, among other things, modest endowments for clothing, lack of cleaning supplies and inconsistent compliance with COVID-19 Security Protocols.
A man detained in an M8 unit said he still saw prison MPs not wearing masks and that it is normal to see food carts rolling between housing units without being disinfected. He added that the lack of supplies has caused inmates to use their own towels or even clothes to clean their spaces.
“We see a lot of violations with the cleaning protocols,” said the man, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals. “We definitely feel insecure.”
Other inmates and their families continue to echo the concerns of public defenders and other advocates about the combination of inmates in quarantined and non-quarantined units during transportation to and from court. A woman who says her husband is in quarantine in Elmwood claims that because inmates have limited movement and where they can go, staff and other prison visitors have been ignored as vectors for introducing the virus to places. of custody.
The woman, who also asked not to be named in retaliation by her husband, alluded to a report by this news organization about a festive party involving correctional deputies who violated the collection restrictions and the spacing and mask use protocols, which coincided with an increase in prison victim infections and an outbreak in wing 7B of the main prison involving about 30 inmates.
“I firmly believe that the guards gathering for the holidays contributed to this major outbreak at the facility,” he said.
To date, the sheriff’s office has recorded more than 360 custody-related COVID-19 infections, according to its data published online. As coronavirus cases continue to rise in the bay area and throughout the state, county prisons have been all but immune, with previous peaks that included nearly 100 inmates in a two-week stretch spanning July and August at Elmwood facilities and an increase in wing 5B of the main prison in July.