Coronavirus: Many test negative, but cases in Idaho prison inmates, staff are rising
Hundreds of coronavirus tests taken from Idaho prisons came back negative Monday, but the Department of Corrections is still seeing a growing number of cases.
IDOC published new COVID-19 numbers Monday night showing that over 300 tests from inmates came back negative. However, the new testing results also showed six more positive cases, though all six are reportedly asymptomatic, according to an update posted Monday evening by IDOC director Josh Tewalt. As of Monday, there are 113 positive but asymptomatic cases in Idaho’s prisons.
The new IDOC numbers also show two more people with positive cases are symptomatic, bringing the total number to 16. Over the weekend and Monday, five more IDOC staffers have tested positive for the coronavirus, Tewalt wrote in his Monday report. The total confirmed cases among staff is now 45.
Mass testing took place for inmates at the Idaho State Correctional Center — a Kuna prison that houses over 2,100 men — last Wednesday. The prison is the first in Idaho where positive cases were found among the incarcerated population. Tewalt wrote in his report that ISCC will have another wave of mass testing on Wednesday.
For staffers at ISCC, mass testing will take place Thursday, according to Tewalt. Staff testing will be available every Tuesday and Thursday through Saltzer Health for anyone who works in IDOC prisons in Kuna.
When someone in prison tests positive, that person is moved to a separate area away from other inmates, Tewalt wrote.
“Regardless of whether someone lives in a 2-man cell or an open bunk living area, our first objective is to separate positives from negatives,” he wrote Monday.
From there, if a person with the virus starts showing symptoms they are moved to a designated medical area or could be moved to a hospital “if they require a level of care that exceeds the medical capabilities of the facility.” Asymptomatic inmates are housed together until they fulfill their medical quarantine and will be continuously monitored for symptoms.
Payette County Jail inmate tests positive
An inmate who has been incarcerated at the Payette County Jail since Feb. 26 tested positive for coronavirus Monday, according to the sheriff’s office.
The Payette County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that the staff are not clear yet how he or she contracted the virus while in custody. When the inmate began showing symptoms of the virus, he or she was transported to a local hospital and is now being held in a single cell.
“Payette County has implemented the recommendations provided by (Southwest District Health) and will be working directly with them through this process,” according to a news release. “The recommendations from SWDH include screening, monitoring, testing, and sanitizing.”
Payette County Sheriff’s Lt. Andy Creech said the jail holds up to 72 inmates and on Tuesday had 51 in custody.
“We have not had any staff test positive yet,” he said. “We are screening our staff at the beginning of their shifts.”
As of Monday, Payette County had 117 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
Over 350 cases reported in Idaho on Monday
For the fourth straight day, over 350 new cases of the coronavirus were reported in Idaho.
Health officials added 377 new cases to the state’s totals, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 7,553 as of Monday evening. No new deaths were reported in Idaho on Monday, and the state’s death total remains at 94.
Over half of Monday’s new cases (190) were reported in Ada County, which still leads the state in cases. Idaho’s most populous county now has 2,886 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Well over half of Ada’s cases have been reported in Boise.
Canyon County — which still has the second most reported cases of any county in Idaho — recorded 51 new cases Monday, bringing its total cases to 1,316.
New coronavirus cases were reported Monday in 21 Idaho counties, including double-digit numbers in Bonneville, Cassia, Kootenai, Minidoka and Twin Falls. New cases were also found in Bannock, Bingham, Jerome, Nez Perce and Payette, among others. Health officials in Elmore and Teton counties removed one case from each county’s totals.
Officials with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare reported 26 new cases among health care workers, bumping the total in Idaho to 596.
Coronavirus-related hospitalizations increased by 18 to 387, according to IDHW. Six more ICU admissions brought the state’s total to 130 as of Monday.
IDHW also reported 27 new “probable cases” around the state, and the total now sits at 616.
Coronavirus cases have been reported in the majority of Idaho’s 44 counties: Ada 2,886, Adams 11, Bannock 111, Bear Lake 2, Benewah 15, Bingham 66, Blaine 530, Boise 5, Bonner 39, Bonneville 123, Boundary 1, Camas 1, Canyon 1,316, Caribou 16, Cassia 248, Clearwater 2, Custer 5, Elmore 67, Franklin 28, Fremont 7, Gem 34, Gooding 56, Idaho 9, Jefferson 15, Jerome 219, Kootenai 440, Latah 23, Lemhi 2, Lincoln 32, Madison 32, Minidoka 196, Nez Perce 91, Oneida 5, Owyhee 42, Payette 117, Power 18, Shoshone 3, Teton 19, Twin Falls 592, Valley 20 and Washington 109.
Community spread has been detected in dozens of Idaho counties: Ada, Bannock, Benewah, Bingham, Blaine, Bonner, Bonneville, Canyon, Caribou, Cassia, Clearwater, Custer, Elmore, Fremont, Gem, Gooding, Idaho, Jefferson, Jerome, Kootenai, Lemhi, Lewis, Lincoln, Madison, Minidoka, Nez Perce, Owyhee, Oneida, Payette, Power, Teton, Twin Falls, Valley and Washington.
This story was originally published July 7, 2020 at 9:58 AM.
