294 Lompoc federal prison inmates, staff test positive for COVID-19

Jan. 22—A COVID-19 outbreak detected at the Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex earlier this month has increased to nearly 300 active infections among inmates and staff, after more than doubling this week, according to the Bureau of Prisons on Friday.

A total of 294 cases was listed on the Bureau of Prisons website between the low-security Federal Correctional Institution and the medium-security U.S. Penitentiary.

Active coronavirus infections include 241 inmates and nine staff at the U.S Penitentiary and 39 inmates and five staff at the Federal Correctional Institution.

Thirty inmates and staff tested positive for the coronavirus on Jan. 10, before cases spiked to 138 more than week later, on Tuesday and nearly doubled, to 257, by Wednesday, according to the Bureau of Prisons website, which tracks active cases.

Five inmates sued Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal and Louis Milusnic, identified as the Lompoc prison's warden, accusing them of violating the Eighth Amendment for their poor response to an outbreak of the coronavirus starting in late March until mid-May of 2020, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on May 16, 2020.

Judge Consuelo B. Marshall on Jan. 18, 2022 ruled that a third site visit and report by Dr. Homer Venters, a court-appointed infectious disease expert, on the conditions of the prison is needed before a July 2020 preliminary injunction that allows home confinement of inmates is dissolved.

Marshall ordered Venters to complete his third site visit and file a report no later than Jan. 28, court records show.

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