Judge orders COVID-19 tests at California detention centre

Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco issued the temporary restraining order Thursday. A lawyer tells the San Francisco Chronicle that nearly two dozen inmates and staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Mesa Verde Detention Center in Bakersfield.

A US federal judge has ordered immigration officials to conduct weekly coronavirus testing for more than 100 men held at a California detention centre. Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco issued the temporary restraining order Thursday.

A lawyer tells the San Francisco Chronicle that nearly two dozen inmates and staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Mesa Verde Detention Center in Bakersfield. The judge says ICE has deliberately avoided universal testing out of concern that the agency would have to implement troublesome safety measures.

The Chronicle says ICE didn't immediately respond to a request for comment..