3 more San Bernardino County deputies test positive for coronavirus as Inland Empire toll climbs
Three more employees with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department have tested positive for the coronavirus, doubling the number of people in the agency infected as the death toll among residents grew across the Inland Empire.
One of the three new cases is a detective assigned to a patrol station who has been off work for the last two weeks with flu-like symptoms. The other two are “professional staff employees,” one assigned to corrections and one to a patrol station in an administrative position. Both had also been off work with flu-like symptoms before getting tested.
Among California law enforcement and other first responders, the number of LAPD officers and civilian employees with the coronavirus is at 45.
“They are all doing well and recovering,” the department said in a statement. “We continue to encourage all members to heed the warnings of health officials while on and off duty.”
The department previously announced that a deputy assigned to patrol had tested positive for COVID-19 on March 23 and two other deputies assigned to corrections had tested positive on March 29.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department declined to provide updated numbers from the agency Friday, saying it was still gathering information.
Two deputies, David Werksman and Terrell Young, have died after coronavirus infections. More than two dozen deputies have been infected along with at least 13 inmates in Riverside County jails.
The death toll in Riverside County climbed to 33, with officials reporting one new victim and a total of 1,280 cases Thursday.
According to the new numbers, 680 men and 607 women in the county have tested positive, an increase of about 8.5% from the previous day. Of those, 342 are ages 18 to 39, 570 are 40 to 64 and 197 are ages 65 to 79. Eighty-two cases are among people over 80. The county also said 125 people have recovered from the virus.
In San Bernardino County, four more deaths were reported Thursday, bringing the number of victims to 24. The number of cases climbed from 641 to 729. Yucaipa has reported the most positive tests, with 103, followed by much larger Fontana, which has 87, and San Bernardino, with 62.
Of those testing positive for the coronavirus, 48.3% are men and 51.4% are woman, while the gender of 0.3% of the cases was unknown.
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