More than 1,000 prisoners have been placed on lockdown at Osborn Correctional Institution in Somers after 105 tested positive for COVID-19 but were all asymptomatic.
The Department of Correction began testing all staff and offenders on Wednesday and discovered the high number of otherwise unnoticeable asymptomatic cases as results came back Friday, officials said.
Out of an abundance of caution, DOC opted to lock down the entire facility, officials said.
“We are grateful to see the availability for mass testing become a reality. By testing everybody — staff as well as offenders — we are better able to protect everybody, those who are infected and those who are not,” DOC Commissioner Rollin Cook said in a statement. “The hope is that no one who tests positive becomes symptomatic, but if they do we are prepared to care for them.”
The 105 positive cases, none of whom have exhibited symptoms of COVID-19, represent almost one-third of the 339 test results that have been returned as of Friday afternoon. Results of the remaining 278 tests were still pending, and a portion of those incarcerated at Osborn opted out of the testing, DOC spokeswoman Karen Martucci said.
“Out of an abundance of caution, these offenders will be treated as if they are asymptomatic carriers of the virus,” Martucci said. “The isolation period will last for 14 days.”
DOC also began testing staff members at several facilities, including Osborn, on Wednesday, but results are still pending for all 163 of those tests, Martucci said.
Six inmates have died of the virus so far and 66 more are being treated at the Medical Isolation Unit at the Northern Correctional Institution. Should any of the Osborn inmates become symptomatic, they would be moved to Northern Correctional for treatment, Martucci said.
To date, 540 inmates have tested positive for the virus and 430 had recovered as of Friday, according to DOC statistics. About 369 staff members also have tested positive, not including those tests still awaiting results this week, and about 300 have since returned to work.
