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Flu bug bites at county jail

February 29, 2012

An outbreak of influenza at San Luis Obispo County Jail has resulted in quarantine of the facility’s west dormitory, the postponement of all court dates for prisoners housed in the west  unit and has forced staff personnel and prisoners to wear protective masks.

County health officials have been conferring with jail administrators about the situation, while a sheriff’s department spokesman downplayed its seriousness.

“It’s a limited outbreak, I think only about three people, and we are taking the normal preventive steps for such a situation,” said Rob Bryn, public information officer for the sheriff.

However, an employee at the jail said that many of those incarcerated there are ill. He said the limited number of confirmed cases are because health workers only performed nasal swabs on a handful of inmates. Of those, he said, a large number came back positive.


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Who ya going to believe?


Bryn tells Cal Coast he thinks the number is three. He tell the Tribune its 4. Another jail employee says its many of those incarcerated.


Sounds like Brynn is pulling the same kind of “misinformation magic” that he used to perform while working for former Sheriff Hedges.


Lets hear from Sheriff Pretty Boy Parky to see if he will tell yet another story.


Maybe Brynn has been taking lessons on misleading the public from Chief Lisa Solomon whose most recent escapade is cooking up crime stats.


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Inmates are already doing time which IS their punishment. Witholding medical treatment would be unjust.


That said, it’s cold and flu season folks. There is no cure for the cold nor, as far as I know, is there a cure for the flu. The inmates, like the rest of us, will likely just have to tough it out.


It does seem to make sense to control the spread as much as possible by quarantining and limiting movement to the courthouse, etc. With overcrowding as it is out there – courtesy of the governor, illness can spread like wildfire.


A quick check of the budget out there indicates that roughly $700,000 is spent annually on “Services and Supplies.” I take it that includes medications?


http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Assets/AD/11-12+Final+Budget/Health+$!26+Human+Services.pdf


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Curious that the Telegram-Tribune is now reporting 105 inmates as being affected?


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Gee I had the flu a few weeks ago and didn’t have the Gov. picking up the tap to take care of me, because I’m an idiot in jail. Tough s**t.


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If you are not incarcerated, you have the power to make the decisions about how your illness is assessed and treated (within your financial limits, of course).


If you want to take an aspirin, you can take it. If you want to pick up a bottle of Nyquil so you can stop coughing long enough to get some sleep, you can do that, too.


People who are incarcerated don’t have the freedom to treat their own conditions. Therefore, those who are administering their custodial care while in jail have to do it for them.


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Or their friends can throw a bag of help over the fence to them.


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You stated people who don’t have the freedom…………..


And why don’t they have their freedom??? Because like I said THEY ARE IDIOTS!!! You lose your freedoms from doing stupid things. Who has to pay for their stupidity? US!!! That was my point Mary. I pay for me and then I also have to pay for them. Simple comment.


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They don’t have their freedom because they are idiots? Re-think that one, bud. A lot of them don’t have their freedom because they didn’t have enough money to buy their freedom. i.e. a good lawyer. And if you are complaining about having to pay for them with ‘your’ tax dollars, the only alternative would be to not incarcerate them, thereby eliminating the need to put public money in the system that supports them.


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Omg you people are to funny. Buy their freedom. O.k. fine BUT if they did the crime and a good lawyer got them off or less time or probation, does that mean they still aren’t GUILTY???

O.J.’s lawyers got him off. Do you think he isn’t guilty? One of only two people in the world with possible DNA at crime scene and it was the other guy. Yea right.


As far as not incarcerating them, so should we just stop prosecuting crime? Just start ignoring armed robbery, theft etc.? These things are no longer a big deal, well maybe in your world as long as they don’t happen to you?


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I have been there and done that you friggin fool for doing nothing wrong! Our system is corrupt to some extent with overzealous law enforcement. While most of those in jail should be there, there are always some who don’t deserve to be there.


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Yes like anything in life NOTHING is perfect. There is usually a story of someone slipping through the cracks but would you say that probably the majority is guilty? That is who I am referring to. Don’t be so sensitive.


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The first part of your response makes no sense, it does not reflect what I said. Money buys good representation. Good representation buys less or no time and/or probation. Little to no time and little to no probation means more freedom. And by your calculations, one with freedom is not an idiot. But wait, they still may have committed a crime but are free. Some people do stupid things but maintain their freedoms and we do not call them ‘idiots’ because they are not in jail.


As for the second part of your response, I am getting that you don’t like having to pay for them. That’s fine. But how do you suggest society pays to have these ‘idiots’ locked up to make you happy? I never said we shouldn’t prosecute crime, this was your idea.


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Oh trust me Bert, there are people not in jail that I think are idiots. To make better sence of my point go down in thread and read my responce to Hotdog.


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Right on Mary. You just stated the facts and some brain dead fools just can’t stand that.

For our ‘hang ’em high’ self righteous poster all I can say is you really show your wicked colors in the mean spirited comments. These people are trapped and must be given decent care. Could be some of them have not even been convicted of anything yet-shall we just hang them all? Christ, if they did anything serious they would not be there anyway.


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Ah dog there you go with your typical knee jerk bleeding heart reaction. My point was (to again keep it simple) is tough it out.


Here is a story about inmates being sick. Well are they going to go to work tomorrow to still be able to provide for their family? Are they still going to go to work because they don’t want to take off a week for a cold? No they are around jail (by there OWN FAULT might I add) to just sit all day. Why should I feel bad that they have a cold outbreak? I know a lot of people with a cold right now. Do you see anyone writing stories for them? I don’t have a problem with medical care (contrary to your leftist views) but that doesn’t mean I have to like spending the money on them.


I’m not going to feel sorry for them that they are sick. A lot of good people are. Those are the one’s I feel bad for. I’m always surprised that folks like you have more empathy for those who do wrong than for those who play by the rules.


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Much of your comment is not true. I am always for the underdog, the under represented, the powerless and the confined (one way or the other). But I also hate to pay for those who don’t need, who are total bums and slackers. Like banks, wall street, our fat overpaid local people, even some lazy street people and so on. But your harsh assessment of men trapped behind bars is too hard. And like I said some are just waiting for trial-innocent until proven guilty. I care about those outside too, and wish we had decent health care for all. I can’t figure out the hardheaded and hardhearted brain dead zombies who don’t want that-unless they are in the big companies making a killing off our health issues.


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Well I’ll take somebody who contributes to society (even bankers) rather than the takers of society who cost us to incarcerate them and take care of them. Give me a maker of goods over a taker of goods any day!!!!


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You need to do some serious research into what is really hurting your pocketbook more. It is not the poor and underprivileged who make up the majority of the inmate population that are truly costing you.


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O,k. Bert. I stated incarceration is expensive. Not sure where you came up with the poor and underprivileged?? Don’t see anywhere I stated that, unless your comment is expressing that some of the people in prison are poor and underprivileged??


So in you wisdom who is truly costing us? You made the statement so you must have an opinion?


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The people that are in jail and prison are, on the whole, poor and underprivileged. Google over-representation of minorities (blacks, Latinos) in prison.

Give me some time to compile facts and figures to show what and who is destroying the middle class and always hurting the lower class. I’m currently in the middle of a project and need to finish before I get too sidetracked.


-Real quick though- read this artcle… http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/07/study-whites-more-likely-to-abuse-drugs-than-blacks/


-And then think about this… “Compared to Non-blacks, California’s African-American population are 4 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana, 12 times more likely to be imprisoned for a marijuana felony arrest, and 3 times more likely to be imprisoned per marijuana possession arrest. Overall, as Figure 3 illustrates, these disparities accumulate to 10 times’ greater odds of an African-American being imprisoned for marijuana than other racial/ethnic groups.”

Source: Males, Mike, “Misdemeanor marijuana arrests are skyrocketing and other California marijuana enforcement disparities,” Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (San Francisco, CA: November 2011), p. 6.

http://cjcj.org/files/Misdemeanor_marijuana_arrests.pdf


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Bankers and hedge fund managers contribute to society ?

Please explain HOW !


What about the oil commodity speculators, that raise these contrived ‘futures’ contracts so that prices rise, and ALL of us then have to pay higher prices at the pump, EVEN THOUGH DOMESTIC PETROLEUM USAGE IS DOWN !


How do these economic vampires and manipulators ‘contribute’ to society ?


Infecting these parasites with an effective virus, like ebola would be cruel.

I vote for the “10,000 feet from an airplane without a parachute” as the more charitable solution.


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