The highest security prison at the Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex is shown.
Nearly four dozen inmates and six staff members at the Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex have tested positive for COVID-19, nearly doubling the amount of cases that were reported last month, according to Bureau of Prisons data released Tuesday.
The cases include 45 inmates and five staff members at the medium-security U.S Penitentiary and one staff member at the low-security Federal Correctional Institution, according to the agency's website, which tracks active cases.
The number of active cases among inmates reported Tuesday is a sharp increase from the 25 active cases and a doubling of the number of staff, from three to six, reported on Dec. 17.
Lompoc prison officials notified the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department of the outbreak on Dec. 8, according to spokeswoman Paige Batson.
Santa Barbara County Public Health officials gave a grim overview of the county's COVID-19 status Tuesday, describing the debilitating effects…
Bureau of Prisons officials have not responded to an email seeking comment.
The outbreak comes among a recent surge in coronavirus cases locally and nationally. In Santa Barbara County, at least 172 people are hospitalized with the coronavirus, including 55 in intensive care units, and an 8.4% ICU rate countywide, which Public Health Officer Dr. Hennig Ansorg has described as "dire."
Santa Barbara County has more than 2,100 active cases of the coronavirus, which also has killed 173 residents, and has recorded an average increase of 331 cases each day over a seven-day period, according to data released on Tuesday.
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