The San Diego County Superior Court system alerted prospective jurors not to report to jury duty this week, as county courthouses contend with reducing juror pools in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, it was announced Monday.
Anyone summoned to appear at court for jury duty between Monday and Thursday was asked not to report to their assigned courthouses, according to a statement released by the Superior Court. People currently assigned to a trial were asked to continue serving unless ordered otherwise by the trial judge.
Last week, the court announced that all civil trials would be postponed for a month in order to reduce the number of jurors, but at the time, stated that jurors could still be summoned for criminal trials.
However, the court system has altered its procedures following this weekend’s recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention against having more than 50 people in one room at a time.
“While we had COVID-19 procedures in place to provide enough social distancing for summoned jurors in our jury services room, having a pool of 50 people will not provide us with enough people for fair trials,” San Diego Superior Court Presiding Judge Lorna Alksne said.
Those summoned to appear after Thursday were asked to monitor the court’s website and Twitter page for updates regarding additional COVID-19 measures that could affect their summons.