About 70% of inmates at a Central Virginia prison have tested positive for COVID-19 so far.
Hanover’s Pamanki Regional Jail, about 20 miles north of Richmond, announced in a press release on Wednesday that 124 of the 178 inmates tested for Covid-19 had received positive results. In addition, 20 of the 129 employees tested had positive results.
A report by WRIC affiliated with Richmond ABC states that the prison has a total population of 80,080 inmates, who will now be tested for Covid-1 for.
The prison said most of the infected people were either asymptomatic or had mild symptoms. To date, there have been no hospitalizations or deaths.
The affected individuals were identified and kept separate from the general public after the culprit result was found on Monday afternoon, the Pamanki Regional Jail said in a statement. “With great caution, the prison facility remains on lockdown, with additional criminal testing pending in collaboration with health department officials.”
The jail said it was informed about the first pair of positive COVID-19 cases among its employees on September 20 – the two employees were instructed to self-separate immediately. The third positive case was that of a prison contractor on August 28, followed by a fourth employee on August 31. Each case was reported to the local health department individually.
The first inmate to test positive for COVID-19 was on September 3, after a week in the facility with cold-like symptoms. The local health department then arranged for screening and testing of all prison staff among inmates “in areas where it is deemed necessary”, according to prison officials.
“All affected staff were placed on emergency paid leave, and all offenders are properly treated by medical personnel who provide 24/7 on-site patient care,” the jail said.
