SCDC expands targeted coronavirus testing at hardest-hit prisons
The South Carolina Department of Corrections is expanding its testing for the novel coronavirus at several prisons reporting the highest infection rates in the system, officials announced Wednesday.
At MacDougall Correctional Institution, where three inmates have died from COVID-19 complications in just over a week, testing will begin Friday and continue until all inmates have been tested. As of Tuesday evening, 94 inmates already had tested positive for the virus. The medium security facility’s current population is 463.
More testing already has happened at Kirkland and Tyger River institutions, and those two facilities currently have the most confirmed cases in the system.
There have been concentrated clusters of cases at both Kirkland and Tyger River, according to data released by the SCDC. At Kirkland, 26 positive cases were reported in one dorm of 150 inmates. In another dorm with 157 inmates, there was just one positive case.
At Tyger River, two units with 160 inmates were tested, with 78 testing positive. Altogether, the medium security facility has reported 224 confirmed cases. Its current population is just shy of 900.
Testing will continue at Kirkland and Tyger River until all inmates have been tested at least once, SCDC officials said in a press release. Those who test positive will be separated from the others. Staff also will be tested.
The expanded testing regimen follows practices recommended by national correctional groups and the Department of Health and Environmental Control, SCDC said in a press release. And it is possible due to a collaboration with the Medical University of South Carolina and increased funding included in the recently passed state budget.
Outside Kirkland, Tyger River and McDougall, the department tests symptomatic inmates across the system, while those with exposure risk factors are quarantined. As of Tuesday evening, 1,171 inmates have been tested, according to a department spokesperson.
The first case of COVID-19 in the SCDC system was reported in April. Since then, more than 500 inmates have tested positive, in addition to 189 staff members. Seven inmates have died, including five since the start of July.
Prisons across the country have reported some of the highest infection rates for COVID-19 in recent weeks, according to the New York Times, as officials have struggled to contain outbreaks in close quarters.
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 7:19 PM.
