Coronavirus Impact: More Florida Corrections Workers Positive For COVID-19
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - Twenty corrections employees, who work in 12 prison facilities and three probation offices, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the Florida Department of Corrections said Friday.
That was an increase from a total of 16 cases confirmed Thursday by corrections officials.
The latest cases involve employees who work at Community Corrections Region 2, a probation office in Union County, Santa Rosa Correctional Institution in Santa Rosa County, Apalachee Correctional Institution in Jackson County and Blackwater Correctional Facility, a prison in Santa Rosa County run by The Geo Group, a prison contractor.
Blackwater Correctional Facility has a total of four positive cases, the most in a single prison, followed by Apalachee Correctional Institution with three cases.
Prison officials said Friday they have not had any confirmed cases of inmates with COVID-19, the highly contagious respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus. But it is unclear how many prisoners have been tested.
The Department of Corrections and the Department of Health have not provided a tally of inmates who have been tested after numerous requests from The News Service of Florida.
Inmates who experience symptoms indicative of COVID-19 are placed in medical isolation, pending Department of Health tests, according to a news release from the corrections department.
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