May
22, 2020
Gov.
Justice expands Huttonsville testing to all inmates
CHARLESTON,
W.Va. – Gov. Jim Justice ordered COVID-19 testing for all other
Huttonsville Correctional Center inmates on Friday, after the mass testing
directed earlier this week confirmed 25 additional cases at the Randolph County
facility.
Four additional staff there are also
positive, following two rounds of testing for employees. The enhanced testing
and ongoing contact tracing have established connections among several of the
positive employees, and between that group and the initial inmate to test
positive.
All positive employees are in good
condition and are recovering at home. All the positive inmates are in good or
fair condition in medical isolation at the facility.
Justice had previously said that all
inmates would be tested if there were additional positives. Justice on Friday also
directed the W.Va. National Guard, which completed testing of Huttonsville
staff on Thursday, to sanitize affected housing areas, the dining hall and the
positive employees’ offices. DCR Commissioner Betsy Jividen, Huttonsville
Superintendent Shelby Searls and other agency leadership have been working
closely with the National Guard, the W.Va. Bureau for Public Health and the
Randolph County Health Department to coordinate the ongoing pandemic response.
The 25 inmates are all among the 40 in the
same housing unit as the initial inmate confirmed with COVID-19 on Monday. A
second inmate in that unit tested positive Wednesday. Friday’s results bring
the total number of W.Va. inmates confirmed with COVID-19 statewide to 27, all
at Huttonsville. All positive cases have been from that quarantined housing unit
to medical isolation.
The four additional staff bring the total
number of active cases among DCR employees statewide to eight, and again all
are at Huttonsville. Three of those new cases resulted from the National
Guard-assisted testing of the overnight and morning shifts on Wednesday. The
other positive test had been conducted amid the ongoing contact tracing by
local health officials.
The latest results from that tracing process
show connections between three of those positive employees. One of those
employees shares an office with a fourth positive employee – and that employee
was in close proximity to the first inmate confirmed positive.
Also as part of the rapid response, all
other inmates at Huttonsville are screened medically daily, including with temperature
checks. No other inmates are exhibiting fevers or other symptoms. There are
around 1,030 inmates at the facility.
The National Guard tested 203 employees on
Wednesday, and an additional 39 on Thursday. The sanitizing effort will begin
once all positive cases are identified and moved to medical isolation.
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