Travis County Sheriff's Office Reports 69 New Coronavirus Cases

AUSTIN, TX — The Travis County Sheriff's Office on Monday reported 49 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus among its inmate population and 20 new cases among employees.

The newly diagnosed cases among staff includes those working in law enforcement, corrections and administrative bureaus. Sheriff's officials noted those in the law enforcement bureau are not necessarily deputies and those in the corrections field are not all corrections officers. All bureaus comprise both sworn and civilian employees, officials said.

The 72 inmates currently under quarantine represent about 4 percent of the total inmate population, officials said, adding that none of the inmates who are COVID-19 positive are experiencing serious symptoms.

Those in isolation are newly booked inmates who are being observed for symptoms as well as those in housing units that are isolated due to positive results, officials noted. Housing units remain in isolation until 14 days have passed with no positive test results, officials added.

The sheriff's office released statistics on inmates as of Monday:

• Total jail population: 1,813.
• Inmates in quarantine: 35.
• Inmates in quarantine confirmed positive: 72.
• Inmates in isolation: 1,145.

COVID-19 tests (overall totals):

Tested/Negative/Positive/Pending

Inmates: 2,118/1,921/204/5

Law enforcement: 150/104/45/1

Corrections: 463/337/125/1

Administrative/Support: 196/135/60/1

Amid rising cases of coronavirus, sheriff's officials on Tuesday issued a statement outlining their hygiene protocol: "Since February of 2020, TCSO has implemented some of the most proactive and effective efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within its jails, in the entire state of Texas," officials wrote. "The result has been exceptionally low numbers of infected inmates and over 10 months of a COVID-19 negative general population. Implementing and sticking to stringent protocols has been key to the success and has required the efforts of every employee, from corrections officers, to medical personnel, to civilian staff."

Officials described a three-tiered isolation approach designed to mitigate infection that was approved by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards: "This procedure is a line of defense, designed to eliminate the introduction of COVID-19 into the general population to the highest degree possible. TCSO’s efforts have been aided by a reduced inmate population and by the design of its downtown Travis County Jail (TCJ) facility. The building not only has a large number of isolation cells, it is also equipped with an air flow system that doesn’t recirculate air."

The three-tiered approach for isolating inmates who have the virus or might unknowingly have it has been publicized weekly by TCSO since April of 2020, officials noted.