Visitation has been suspended at the Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex as COVID-19 cases rise again both inside and outside the facility.
On Friday, a message on the Bureau of Prisons website for the Lompoc facilities noted the change in visitation status.
“All visiting at this facility has been suspended until further notice,” according to messages on sites for the U.S. Penitentiary and Federal Correctional Institution.
Social visitation was suspended earlier this year due to the massive outbreak at the FCI, where more than 1,000 inmates tested positive along with multiple staff members.
Visitation resumed in early October, with several health-and-safety measures in place.
As of Friday morning, the BOP reported the USP has 10 inmates and one staff who had tested positive. By Friday afternoon, the number of inmate cases had climbed to 13.
The facility also reported 137 inmates and 28 staff had recovered.
At the adjacent FCI, zero inmate and staff cases exist currently, but the BOP reports 682 inmates and 28 staff had recovered.
It’s not clear why that number differs from earlier this year and the tally still reported by the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department.
According to the county tally, Lompoc federal prisons have had 1,031 cases with 1,024 recovered.
The county shows four cases remained active on Thursday.
However, on Wednesday the county reported two new cases and four still-active cases
In all, the BOP reports four inmates deaths due to COVID-19, while Santa Barbara County lists three.
BOP reported FCI has had 933 inmates tested, with one pending. From those, 688 inmates had positive tests.
At the USP, 879 inmates have been tested with 14 pending and 165 having positive tests, according to BOP.
The agency notes that not all tests are conducted by and/or reported to BOP.
“The number of positive tests at a facility is not equal to the number of cases, as one person may be tested more than once,” the BOP noted. “The number of tests recorded per site reflects the number of persons at the specific facility who have been tested, whether at that site or at a prior facility.”
The FCI, a low-security facility, has 947 inmates, according to the BOP.
The USP has 1,208 inmates with 882 at the medium-security facility and 326 at the minimum-security satellite prison camps at the site.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.