A total of 41 inmates in Washington, D.C., have tested positive for coronavirus, and eight of them have recovered, the Department of Corrections said Thursday.
Four new patients were reported Thursday: a 31-year-old woman, a 48-year-old man, a 49-year-old man and a 54-year-old man. They were in quarantine after coming into contact someone from their unit who tested positive for COVID-19 and are now in isolation and under medical monitoring.
Nine men who range in age from 23 years old to 66 years old were reported to have tested positive Wednesday.
Those inmates were moved to a quarantine unit on March 26 as a precautionary measure after another individual from their unit tested positive for COVID-19. They are currently in isolation medical staff are monitoring them, officials said.
On Monday, the corrections department said a 65-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman had tested positive. Three men, 62, 39 and 29 years old, and a 36-year-old woman were reported positive for COVID-19 on Sunday.
The woman's unit was quarantined last Wednesday after another inmate there tested positive.
A 35-year-old man and a 35-year-old woman were the second group of people in custody to test positive. There were both put in isolation.
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A 48-year-old man, 33-year-old man, 26-year-old man and a 21-year-old man were reported positive for the coronavirus Thursday.
All those individuals were housed in the same building as someone who tested positive from their unit on March 26. They were moved to a quarantine unit as a precautionary measure.
The DOC reported Wednesday two other D.C. jail inmates tested positive for the coronavirus.
One of those cases is a 48-year-old man who was moved to the quarantine unit March 26 as a precaution after someone else in his unit tested positive. He is in isolation.
The other case is a 30-year-old woman who is in isolation in the infirmary.
An email about those cases was sent to Department of Corrections staff Tuesday.
All patients are being monitored according to guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and DC Health, according to the DOC.
Several inmates filed a class action lawsuit against the Department of Corrections accusing staff of not taking proper safety precautions to protect them from the coronavirus.
The lawsuit wants the Department of Corrections to implement safety measures and release offenders serving time for misdemeanors.
The city says it has been planning for the well-being of inmates.
The union representing corrections officers also is unhappy with conditions, saying there are not enough cleaning supplies.
