65 More COVID-19 Cases Confirmed at Lompoc Prison
Part of the Complex Is Now Testing 100 Percent of Inmates
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at the federal prison complex in Lompoc jumped by 65 today as the penitentiary started the process of testing 100 percent of inmates in one particularly hard-hit area of the property. There are now 172 confirmed cases among staff and inmates throughout the grounds, and that figure is expected to rise sharply in the coming days as testing continues.
The known prison cases account for more than a quarter of all Santa Barbara County infections, which has now reached 613. The number of prison cases, combined with community cases in the cities of Santa Maria and Lompoc, where the majority of staff live, account for more than two-thirds of the county’s total.
The Bureau of Prisons said Tuesday it would be testing all inmates at Federal Correctional Institution Lompoc (FCI Lompoc), the low-security component of the complex that houses 1,186 male offenders. The other half of the complex is United States Penitentiary Lompoc (USP Lompoc), with 1,530 inmates. The bureau notably did not say mass testing was taking place there.
