An outbreak of influenza at San Luis Obispo County Jail has resulted in quarantine of the facility’s west dormitory, the postponement of all court dates for prisoners housed in the west unit and has forced staff personnel and prisoners to wear protective masks.
County health officials have been conferring with jail administrators about the situation, while a sheriff’s department spokesman downplayed its seriousness.
“It’s a limited outbreak, I think only about three people, and we are taking the normal preventive steps for such a situation,” said Rob Bryn, public information officer for the sheriff.
However, an employee at the jail said that many of those incarcerated there are ill. He said the limited number of confirmed cases are because health workers only performed nasal swabs on a handful of inmates. Of those, he said, a large number came back positive.
