More than 80 offenders housed at Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility have tested negative during the first round of COVID-19 testing after a staff member was confirmed to have the virus and another one is waiting for confirmation.
“The Department of Corrections conducted contact tracing and determined that out of an abundance of caution, some inmates would be tested as part of prevalence testing,” said Annie Skinner, the public information officer for DOC.
The 84 offenders who have been tested are quarantined and have undergone a second round of testing to confirm that no inmates developed the virus after the first testing was conducted.
DOC has not yet received the results of that second round of testing.
Skinner said CTCF is currently on Phase III operations, which means that inmates will remain in their cells during the quarantine period outside of opportunities to use the restroom and shower.
“All meals and medications will be delivered to inmates in their living units,” she said. “The inmates will have access to their normal personal property during the quarantine period. In addition, to the greatest extent possible, staff members are being consistently assigned to specific units and work areas to prevent unnecessary crossover with other areas of the facilities.”
There currently are 953 offenders housed at CTCF.
According to the online CDOC COVID Offender Case Dashboard, no offenders in any of the Cañon City facilities have tested positive. They have tested seven at Arrowhead Correctional Facility, five at Centennial Correctional Facility, one at Colorado State Penitentiary and five at Fremont Correctional Facility.
There currently are 126 active cases across the state: one at Denver Reception & Diagnostic Center, 24 at Crowley County Correctional Facility and 101 at Sterling Correctional Facility.
In all, 464 offenders across the state have recovered and two from Sterling have died from symptoms related to COVID-19.
As of Tuesday, six DOC staff members have active cases of COVID-19, and including those cases, 33 personnel are out because of possible exposure or symptoms. A total of 35 staff members have tested positive, many of whom have recovered and returned to work.
