Inmate diagnosed with 1st confirmed virus case at El Paso County’s downtown jail

EL PASO, Texas – The first confirmed case of coronavirus inside the downtown El Paso County jail was reported by sheriff's officials on Friday.

A 36-year-old inmate being held on a parole violation developed a fever while being held in quarantine after booking, and subsequently tested positive for the virus, officials said.

A sheriff's spokeswoman said the man was currently in isolation and receiving medical care while recovering.

She indicated that jail administrators were working to "limit the outbreak of the virus... within our inmate population."

Back in March, sheriff's officials outlined safety protocols they said were put in place to reduce the risk of virus transmission among the roughly 2,100 jail inmates.

As ABC-7 has previously reported, some of the largest virus outbreaks in the Borderland to date have occurred at other detention facilities.