CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — A Chesapeake prison is reporting an outbreak of coronavirus in inmates and staff, according to the Virginia Department of Corrections.
VADOC created a database that shows the number of COVID-19 cases in prisons across Virginia. The database is updated every day by 5 p.m., according to VADOC.
As of July 22, the database shows that St. Brides Correctional Center on Sanderson Road has 260 inmates on-site who are COVID-19 positive, as well as 15 staff members who tested positive.
VADOC spokesperson Greg Carter told 10 On Your Side that inmates at St. Brides Correctional Center were tested for COVID-19 between July 15 and July 17. The VADOC database was updated after those test results were received.
St. Brides Correctional Center has an “average daily” population of 1,138 inmates, Carter said. Based on that average, nearly 23% of St. Brides Correctional Center inmates tested positive for COVID-19 during that time.
“Testing and research to date have shown us that asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic COVID-19 cases make up a significant portion of the positive cases among staff and offenders,” Carter wrote in an email to WAVY News 10. “These cases contribute to the ‘silent transmission’ of the virus to others.”
Inmates who have tested positive have been placed in medical isolation in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to other prisoners at the correctional center, Carter said.
“Treatment follows the department’s COVID medical guidelines,” Carter wrote in an email. “While there is no cure for COVID, we treat symptoms as they arise, just as you would in any primary care setting. We can provide many things, including oxygen, on-site. If they require an inpatient level of care, they go to the hospital.”
St. Brides Correctional Center is reporting the highest number of on-site COVID-19 cases in the Virginia prison system at this point in the pandemic. Behind it is Lawrenceville Correctional Center in Brunswick County, which is reporting 18 COVID-19 positive inmates on-site at this time, according to the VADOC database.
The VADOC database also shows the number of total positive inmates for each prison. These numbers represent inmates who are on-site and in the hospital, who have recovered or died from the disease, and who have been released, transferred in, or transferred out of each facility, according to VADOC.
St. Brides Correctional Center has reported a total of 262 COVID-19 positive inmates to VADOC since the agency began collecting data on coronavirus in Virginia’s prisons. This number includes inmates who are positive on-site at the prison.
St. Brides Correctional Center is also reporting the third-highest number of total cases in a single facility, according to VADOC’s database.
Although Dillwyn Correctional Center in Buckingham County is currently reporting no COVID-19 positive inmates on-site or in the hospital, the prison has had 347 inmates who have had the disease and two who died from it. This is the largest number of inmates reported to VADOC from a single facility.
Greensville Correctional Center, located near Jarratt, currently has nine COVID-19 positive inmates and two who are in the hospital. In total, 264 inmates at Greensville Correctional Center have contracted COVID-19, which is the second-largest amount reported to VADOC by a single facility.
VADOC is reporting 291 cases of COVID-19 in prisons at this time — and 260 of those are being reported by St. Brides Correctional Center.
In total, 13 Virginia prison inmates have died from the disease and 1,821 have contracted the virus, according to VADOC.
VADOC, in partnership with the Virginia Department of Health, began “point prevalence testing” in prisons in late May. VADOC said it was going to test all of its inmates, including those who didn’t have COVID-19 symptoms, in an effort to control the spread of the virus throughout state prisons.
Visitation and volunteer activities at all VADOC facilities are cancelled until further notice due to the pandemic.
More information can be found at vadoc.virginia.gov.