The area where the inmate lived at SCI Phoenix has been placed under quarantine, officials said.
Commonwealth Media Services
Centre County inmate tests positive for COVID-19
“All measures to protect the health and safety of our staff and incarcerated individuals continue."
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Anne Danahy
Commonwealth Media Services
The area where the inmate lived at SCI Phoenix has been placed under quarantine, officials said.
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(State College) — An inmate at the Centre County Correctional Facility has tested positive for COVID-19, and a small number of staff and inmates who may have had contact with the inmate are in quarantine, according to a news release from the county Sunday.
The inmate is a Centre County resident who has been in the jail since January. He or she is being housed in a negative airflow room in the facility, and additional testing and contact tracing are being conducted, according to the release.
This is the first case of someone incarcerated at the county facility testing positive for COVID-19.
“All measures to protect the health and safety of our staff and incarcerated individuals continue with additional efforts to mitigate the spread of this virus within our facility,” Warden Christopher Schell said.
The facility has been following Centers for Disease Control guidelines since early March. That includes increased disinfection sweeps, a no-visitation policy, suspending work-release programs and following strict screening protocols for staff and inmates. According to the county, the facility also has routine temperature checks and universal masking.
As of Sunday, Pennsylvania has 32,284 cases of COVID-19, including 73 cases in Centre County.
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