Waterbury, VT – Vermont Department of Corrections (Vermont DOC) is reporting two incarcerated individuals at Northwest State Correctional Facility (NWSCF) in St. Albans, and one at Northeast Correctional Complex (NECC) in St. Johnsbury tested positive for COVID-19 in intake tests conducted August 23 and 24.
All individuals are new entries to the system and have been in intake quarantine since their arrivals. Contact tracing was initiated upon receipt of the positive results at both facilities, and is still underway at NECC as the positive test result was returned late Tuesday afternoon.
Two staff members at NWSCF were identified as close contacts and will be monitored for symptoms but are not quarantined at this time due to vaccination status and proper use of PPE. All staff at the facility are testing today, August 24, in previously scheduled surveillance testing. No incarcerated individuals were identified as close contacts.
The facility was placed on full lockdown upon receipt of the positive results and will remain in this status until staff tests are returned.
These are the first positive cases at NWSCF since March 3, 2021 and at NECC since May 29, 2021. All incarcerated individuals at NWSCF and NECC were last tested on July 21 and August 11, respectively; all results were negative.
Families and friends of incarcerated individuals are encouraged to reach out to the Vermont DOC Office of Constituency Services with questions: https://doc.vermont.gov/information-inmate-families-and-friends. Click here for the direct link to the online Friends and Family portal.
Updates on the COVID-19 response in Vermont’s correctional facilities can be found at https://doc.vermont.gov/covid-19-information-page.
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