24% of Inmates Tested Come Back Positive for COVID-19
392 of the 1,620 Inmates Test are Positive
The Bexar County Jail just released new numbers on infected inmates. Of the 1,620 inmates who have been tested, 392 of them have come back as being positive for the coronavirus. According to the KSAT article, 1,016 came back with a negative result, but that leaves 604 tests unaccounted for. We assume the results have not come back on those tests.
Sheriff Salazar Doing a Poor Job of Testing
On April 25, KSAT put out an article with this as its headline, “All Bexar County Jail staff, inmates to be tested for COVID-19, health officials say.” The Bexar County Jail has been averaging a little over 3,200 inmates a day in their facility. That means that almost a month later, with only 1,620 inmates tested, all the Sheriff’s Office can lay claim to is having tested approximately 50% of the inmates. And that’s a generous view of the situation. The reality is some of those inmates who have been tested have already been released and new inmates have come in, so the real number of inmates in the jail who have not been tested is higher than 50%.
Then there’s the staff. What are the numbers on the staff? According to the article, the Sheriff was going to have all of his staff tested yet we are getting very little information about them. What information we do get is on the deputies and that is being given as only those who are still positive. We are not getting the total number of deputies, or civilians, who have tested positive. This lack of information and the reporting of only the positives, helps to artificially lower the numbers. I hate to complain to KSAT since they are the main ones giving out the numbers but I wish they would be a little more diligent in getting totals on everyone so we have a better understanding of what is going on at the jail.
This Is What a Good Response Looks Like
Bexar County and the City of San Antonio have done an excellent job in trying to contain the coronavirus. Judge Nelson Wolff and Mayor Ron Nirenberg immediately joined forces to close businesses and issue shelter-in-place orders. Their actions, and those of the citizens who followed the orders, have made San Antonio and all of Bexar County, one of the safest areas in Texas. These two men went against the childish anger of the ‘but our freedom’ crowd, they went against Attorney General Ken Paxton who threatened them with a lawsuit, and did what was in the best interests of the citizens of Bexar County.