Centre County Correctional Facility inmate tests positive for COVID-19, officials say

An inmate at the Centre County Correctional Facility has tested positive for the coronavirus, the county’s prison board of inspectors announced in a press release Sunday.

The inmate — the first at the Bellefonte facility to test positive for COVID-19 — is a Centre County resident and has been incarcerated there since January. According to the release, the inmate has been housed in CCCF’s negative airflow room since exhibiting symptoms.

A “small number” of staff and inmates who may have had contact with the individual are in quarantine while contact tracing and additional testing are conducted.

“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 in the release.

In the past month, 43 inmates were released from the CCCF, Board of Commissioners Chairman Mike Pipe told the Centre Daily Times last week. He added that more may be released as jail staff and county officials identify vulnerable inmates who do not pose a safety risk if released early.

“Social distancing is difficult to accomplish within the walls of the correctional facility. A correctional facility is a congregate environment, which heightens the potential for COVID-19 to spread once introduced,” Pipe said. “It is our obligation to safeguard the lives of our returning citizens.”

No jail employees have tested positive for the virus as of last week.

The CCCF also has implemented other measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Sunday release stated. Increased disinfection sweeps, a no-visitation policy, suspension of work release programs and adherence to strict screening protocols for staff and inmates have been in place since early March.

This story was originally published April 19, 2020 at 4:15 PM.