Of the hundreds of staffers tested over the weekend at two prisons, 19 were found to have positive coronavirus cases. But the Tennessee Department of Correction says none of them had been showing any symptoms before they were tested.
The mass testing of 1,145 state employees and contractors followed a handful of positive cases at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville and the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex in Pikeville. Of the 19 newly confirmed positive cases, 13 are TDOC staff and six are contract employees.
“All of the employees were asymptomatic at the time of testing,” TDOC noted in a release Sunday.
The mass testing was only for employees. Inmates are only being tested if they show symptoms or have had contact with someone who tested positive. The Tennessee Department of Health is conducting contact tracing in both facilities.
One inmate at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center has tested positive and two at the Turney Center Industrial complex.
More: Second Inmate In Tennessee State Prison Tests Positive For Coronavirus
TDOC has stepped up disinfection measures in its prisons and is conducting contract tracing at Northwest and Bledsoe. All staff and inmates also have cloth masks.
The department has tried to answer questions from family members on its website and is taking questions through the site as well.
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