RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Twenty-five employees of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department — most of them corrections officers — and 11 inmates have tested posted for coronavirus, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said during a press briefing Thursday evening.



Twenty-two of the employee infections are at Cois Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta, two are from Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside, and one is at Riverside University Health System - Medical Center in Moreno Valley. Several of the employees are hospitalized; one is in critical condition, Bianco said. Earlier Thursday, Bianco announced the death of Deputy Terrell Young due to COVID-19 complications. Young worked at Cois Byrd and came into contact with an inmate who tested positive for the disease. The deputy was evidently exposed to COVID- 19 during the week of March 15-21 while transporting the infected inmate to Riverside University Health System - Medical Center for an examination.

The deputy fell ill March 22 after showing up to work. The following day, 10 other employees called in sick and additional inmates also reported feeling ill, according to Bianco. Some of the employees and inmates who have tested positive for COVID-19 showed no signs of illness, the sheriff warned, saying the disease does not discriminate. He characterized department employees as ranging in age from early 20s to late 50s, male and female. Some of the infected have no underlying health conditions, he said.

"We want to be very clear about the danger and seriousness of this virus," Bianco said during the briefing at the County Administrative Center in downtown Riverside. "This virus is being spread by inmates and employees who are not displaying any type of symptoms. It's very, very difficult to identify. We don't know they're sick until they come down with symptoms."

In addition to the 25 positive cases among department personnel, there are other sick Cois Byrd employees awaiting test results, according to Bianco.

Routine screening has been underway at the jail, Bianco said. The fast disease spread is believed to be isolated at the Murrieta facility, according to the sheriff, who tried to reassure the public.

"We believe we have this contained at the moment," he said, but acknowledged the "drastic and viral" spread of the disease. "It's not pretty," he continued.

All of the infected inmates are currently receiving medical treatment, according to Bianco. More than 100 Cois Byrd inmates have been been tested for COVID-19; results on 51 of them are still pending, according to the sheriff. Dozens are in quarantine. There will be no early release of inmates due to the disease, according to Bianco, who said none of those incarcerated in Riverside County jails are "low-level" offenders. "We don't keep them," he said.