SAN ANTONIO — Sheriff Javier Salazar and Deputy Chief Roland Schuler provided an update on the coronavirus mitigation efforts at the Bexar County Jail.
Sheriff Salazar said that 40 deputies have tested positive for coronavirus while 23 have recovered and 66 have tested negative.
He also reported 227 inmates have tested positive for coronavirus. None of them were taken to a local hospital, but 26 are in the jail infirmary. There are 15 inmates with the disease that have been released from the jail while 46 inmates have recovered.
Out of all the inmates who have tested positive, only three of them are female, BCSO says. There are currently 400 female inmates in the jail. More than 800 inmates, 1/3, have been tested so far.
The deputy that was in the ICU is out of the hospital but on an oxygen tank at home. Right now, there are no detention deputies in the hospital
"The reason the numbers are high is because we're testing so much," said Sheriff Salazar. He also said they tested their known "hotspot units first."
The vast majority of inmates are asymptomatic, Sheriff Salazar said. "We are making all the preparations that we possibly can."
Deputy Chief Schuler said, "Quarnanting them {inmates} for a period of time...monitoring temperatures and signs of becoming symptomatic for a 14-day period," is reportedly taking place in the jail.
The announcement comes after Mayor Ron Nirenberg, County Judge Nelson Wolff said that, as of Monday, there were 216 "paper-ready inmates" that, in normal circumstances, would have been transferred to a prison by now, or else would be in the transfer.
Last month, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice told county jails it would put a hold on taking new inmates in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus, which had already gotten into the state prison system.
At the time, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said there were 174 inmates at the county jail waiting to head to prison, amid efforts by the county to reduce its inmate population. Now, that number is up to 216, and the total inmate population, according to Wolff, has reached 3,178 in a facility with a capacity of just over 5,100.
"That puts an additional burden on us that we shouldn't have," Wolff said Monday evening. "But it's typical of what the state does from time to time."
