California inmate infects family after release

Inmate released from a CA jail tested positive for COVID and infected elderly mother and sister

ORANGE COUNTY, CA. (KYMA, KECY, CNN) -- The Orange County jail released half of its inmates due to the worsening pandemic, but one of those released was unknowingly infected with the virus and allegedly spread it to his family.

 Stafani Espinosa said her brother was released from Theo Lacy Jail two weeks ago. He was tested for COVID-19 two days prior but didn’t wait to get his test results back before returning to her and her mother’s apartment for a brief visit.

The next day he called the jail to ask about his belongings and was told he was positive for COVID-19, according to Espinosa.

“By then, even though our exposure was minimal, we still isolated and went to go get tested,” she said.

At first Espinosa and her mom, who has diabetes, tested negative. Then, when symptoms appeared, they were tested again and found out they were positive.

“And then Christmas morning when I went to go get her to open presents, she could barely walk down the hallway,” recalled Espinosa.

Espinosa rushed Belinda Rodriguez to the emergency room at Orange Coast Memorial. The family said her oxygen has dropped and she had to be intubated.

Espinosa wishes the Orange County Sheriff’s Department would have kept her brother in custody until he knew if he was infectious.

“How they could release my brother without letting him know his results? It was one day, and they couldn’t wait to release him?” she asked.

A spokesperson with the sheriff’s department said, “When inmates are released and have medical needs including COVID, OC Health has a process in place to make contact during the release process to provide information. If they need to contact them after release, they use the information the inmate provided when they were booked into jail.”

Inmates sometimes don’t have a good number for OC Health to call.