KEY POINTS

  • Inmate probably contracted the virus while incarcerated.
  • COVID-19 spreading to staff.
  • Now a countrywide problem.

A corrections officer at the Maryland Transition Center in Baltimore tested positive for coronavirus Thursday. Two workers at the Maryland Department of Corrections were tested positive Monday. Fifteen inmates around Washington, DC have tested positive this week.
Corrections facilities across the country are scrambling to prevent the spread of the virus among inmates and staff. The D.C. jail announced its first case last week, and it now stands at nine.
An inmate at a jail in Fairfax County, VA tested positive for coronavirus. County health officials said the man, who has been in jail since Jan. 29, probably contracted the virus while incarcerated. At the Virginia Correctional Center for Women in Goochland, three inmates were infected.
A female inmate in Prince George’s County, MD tested positive. And an inmate in Maryland’s state prison contracted the virus, as had two contract employees.
Officials said they are taking various precautions, including isolating sick inmates, tracking whom they may have had contact with and monitoring the population for symptoms, the Washington Post reported. Even with extra cleaning and other efforts, officials are bracing for additional coronavirus cases.
The District of Columbia has 653 confirmed cases, most of them in the affluent Northwest area, and 12 perished on Thursday morning.
Maryland announced 346 new positive coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 2,331, according to the state. Five more people have died in Maryland, bringing the state’s death toll to 36 from COVID-19.
Virginia reported another 234 confirmed cases Thursday bringing its total to 1,484. Thirty-four people have succumbed so far.

Coronavirus