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Sacramento County Sheriff's Department is planning to release 203 inmates early to mitigate Covid-19 spread in the county jails.
Sacramento County identified 76 positive COVID-19 cases at the Main Jail and 48 positive cases at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center. Those excluded from early release include anyone convicted of domestic violence or other serious or violent felonies, DUI offenses, or offenses requiring registration, with anyone with restraining orders will be excluded as well. Those who are being released are within 90 days of their original release date.
Inmates are offered the vaccine, but they are not required to take it. Sacramento County Public Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye said this recent outbreak coincides with the rapid spread of the omicron variant in the county. As of Jan. 13, Sacramento is experiencing a case rate of 201 new cases per 100,000 residents — the highest number the county has ever seen. This also follows Sacramento prison systems experiencing a variant uptickas well among prisoners and employees. County officials report that contact tracing for the omicron variant is currently underway.