The Tennessee Department of Correction confirmed Friday that a second inmate at the Turney Center Industrial Complex in Hickman County has tested positive for COVID-19. The department says three other inmates may have been exposed and were placed in quarantine as a precaution.
A week ago, TDOC officials announced another inmate at Turney had tested positive for COVID-19 while in the hospital for another matter. That inmate has been kept isolated from other inmates in the prison, TDOC says.
Three staff members and three contract employees in the state prison system have also contracted the coronavirus, but this latest case is the first for an inmate who was not already separate from the general population.
“General population is a designation given to inmates who are not segregated for any reason. Technically, this inmate would be considered general population,” said Faith Seifuddin, a TDOC spokesperson, in an email to WPLN News. “However, he was housed at a minimum security annex separate from the majority of inmates who are housed at the main prison.”
On Friday, corrections officials in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Health launched a mass testing initiative for corrections employees at two of the state’s prisons.
Tennessee jails have already begun releasing inmates early because of the coronavirus. But there are no immediate plans to grant an early release to state prisoners, according to the TDOC website.
TDOC officials suspended volunteer services and visitation at all its prisons to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in March.
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