Waterbury, Vt., August 26, 2020 – Mass testing of Southern State Correctional Facility conducted Monday, August 24 showed no new positive cases of COVID-19 among the 455 staff and inmates tested.
This latest round of testing was conducted as part of Vermont DOC and Vermont Health Department’s plan to test all Vermont facilities on a rotating basis. Chittenden County Regional Correctional Facility will be tested on Monday, August 31.
At Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility, another Vermont inmate tested positive for COVID-19 during follow-up testing of all negative inmates. There are now 185 unique positive cases identified among the 219 Vermont inmates at TCCF, 153 of whom are now considered “in recovery.” Two inmates are in the infirmary, none are hospitalized, and none are exhibiting concerning symptoms. All staff at TCCF are being tested for the virus.
“We are in constant communication with the teams at CoreCivic and in Mississippi to ensure we’re all pulling in the same direction,” said Interim Commissioner Jim Baker. “Vermont DOC staff are traveling to TCCF next week, and all negative inmates will be tested on September 28. Through these conversations, efforts, and the access we will soon have to TCCF’s camera system, we are confident we’re doing everything in our power to bring the Vermont standard of COVID mitigation to Mississippi.”
Access to the TCCF camera system will give Vermont DOC the ability to remotely view activity, ensure compliance with protocols and respond to incidents in a timely fashion.
Daily 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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