Waterbury, Vt., July 15, 2020 – An inmate at Northeast Correctional Complex in St. Johnsbury has tested positive for COVID-19. This is the only positive result of the total 215 NECC staff and inmates tested Monday. The inmate has been asymptomatic since intake. NECC was immediately put on lockdown following the positive result, the COVID positive inmate was moved to isolation and contact tracing was initiated.
The inmate has been housed at the facility since June 16 when he was returned from community supervision and placed in intake quarantine for 14 days. He was tested for COVID on June 27; when his test came back negative on July 1, he was released to general population.
This is the fourth inmate to test positive for novel coronavirus at a Vermont facility since June 11. An inmate at Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility, extradited from Florida, tested positive on June 17, and an inmate at Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility, wanted as a Fugitive from Justice in Pennsylvania, tested positive on June 20. A third inmate at Northwest State Correctional Facility tested positive on June 23. That inmate had previously tested positive in mass testing of NWSCF in April.
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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