An inmate at the George Bailey Detention Facility in Otay Mesa may have infected 46 other inmates with COVID-19 before he started showing symptoms of the virus, authorities said Tuesday.
The man was booked into the San Diego Central Jail for suspicion of DUI on Feb. 15 and placed in quarantine for seven days under the San Diego Sheriff's Department's COVID-19 protocol. He was later transferred to the George Bailey Detention Facility and assigned dormitory housing, sheriff's officials said. He was transferred to different modules in the same housing unit due to behavioral issues.
Then on Feb. 27, the inmate began showing flu-like symptoms and was taken to a hospital for evaluation. He tested positive for COVID-19, officials said.
The housing unit he came from was placed in quarantine and contact tracing led to the testing of 106 inmates, with 46 testing positive, officials said.
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Inmates moved into isolation were in cell-style housing units to provide less exposure to each other, officials said.
