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More Than 13,000 LA County Jail Inmates Have Tested Positive for COVID-19 and Number Steadily Growing, Sheriff Says

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Wednesday that 862 sheriff’s department personnel have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with 726 under quarantine.

Villanueva said both numbers have been relatively stable, but he added that 13,633 people in county jails have tested positive, a number he said is “climbing steadily.”

The sheriff complained that the state prison system is not accepting prisoners who are already convicted.

“Also, our mental health institutions … Patton for example, Metropolitan State Hospital, all those (institutions) that take our inmates who are deemed unfit to stand trial or incompetent to stand trial, those ones need to be transferred also out of our system, but no one’s taking them, so we’re starting to accumulate inmates who shouldn’t be in our custody,” he said.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department reported that 205 employees have tested positive, with 12 in isolation and 191 having returned to work.

On Tuesday, officials with the city’s Emergency Operations Center said 546 Los Angeles Police Department employees have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with 72 at home recovering or self-isolating due to exposure, and 498 having returned to work.

The Los Angeles Fire Department has had 173 employees test positive for the virus, with 12 recovering at home in isolation, 157 having returned to work, and three no longer quarantining but remaining at home.


Source: NBC Los Angeles

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