Delaware’s Department of Correction announced more cases of COVID-19 in state prisons.
DOC officials say an inmate at the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington has tested positive—the first to do so at that facility.
Officials say the individual has been separated from the prison’s general population in a disciplinary cell for more than a month and is now in isolation.
In a statement, Commissioner Claire DeMatteis said, “through contact tracing, [DOC staff] have identified the likely source of the introduction of the virus ... and have contained further spread."
The state is also reporting 13 additional cases among inmates at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center near Smyrna, along with seven prison staff and two cadets.
To date, 86 inmates and 53 prison staff have tested positive statewide with the largest outbreak at Vaughn. The DOC says it has completed its initial round of proactive rapid testing there and at the Sussex Community Correction Center - conducting 300 tests of staff and 140 of inmates.
To date, three inmates in Delaware with underlying health conditions have died after testing positive for COVID-19. Officials say 24 inmates are currently symptomatic and 18 have recovered from the virus.
