NASHVILLE – Tennessee officials have launched a third round of mass coronavirus testing at three state prisons after an additional 150 out of 424 inmates on Saturday tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total of confirmed cases at the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex in Pikeville facility to 162.
Department of Correction officials said Monday that additional testing began Sunday for an additional 3,100 inmates at Bledsoe County, the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville and the Turney Center Industrial Complex in Only, which is located in Hickman County.
Officials said the latest 150 Bledsoe County Correctional Complex inmates who tested positive on Saturday have been isolated from the rest of the population at the facility. The vast majority of those at the facility who tested positive were asymptomatic, according to the department, which did not provide specific numbers. Officials say 262 tested negative while 12 results are pending.
All inmates at the 2,500-inmate Bledsoe County prisons are being tested as part of what officials called an “aggressive response to the number of positive cases and out of an abundance of caution.”
Tennessee Correction Commissioner Tony Parker said Monday that “the decision to expand testing at the Northwest and Turney Center prisons is based on the positive returns, extensive contact tracing and a sound methodology.
“The inmates who are being tested at these two facilities either had direct exposure to a confirmed positive case, or were screened positive and symptomatic, or those with potential exposure due to the living structure of a correctional environment.”
Parker said a similar methodology has been implemented at CoreCivic-run Trousdale Turner Correctional Complex, resulting in the targeted testing “of a select number of inmates by the contract vendor.”
Officials said cloth masks have been provided to all staff and inmates as well as county jails, sheriff’s departments, the Tennessee Highway Patrol and health care workers.
Here are figures on the number of inmates testing positive for COVID-19.
– Bledsoe County Correctional Complex, 162
– Turney Center Industrial Complex, 5
– Northwest Correctional Complex, 2
– Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, 1
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow him on Twitter @AndySher1.