DOC testing of asymptomatic inmates, staff at Montana Women’s Prison reveals two inmates presumed positive for COVID-19

• June 12 2020

Two inmates at Montana Women’s Prison tested presumed positive for COVID-19 Tuesday. Samples from the inmates were transported to the state lab Wednesday for confirmatory testing, and those results are pending.

Testing of the inmates took place as part of the Montana Department of Corrections’ ongoing “sentinel” testing of staff and inmates occurring at all Montana Department of Corrections facilities throughout the state.

“The department had a plan in place in case we had positive results in any of our facilities,” said DOC Director Reginald D. Michael. “We are following that plan and will work diligently to ensure the health and safety of our inmate population, our staff, and the public.”

Sentinel testing is for individuals who do not demonstrate active symptoms associated with COVID-19, and is intended to help guide response efforts related to the threat of the virus. Once the presumed positive results were returned, the DOC performed proactive testing of all 194 inmates at the facility and 48 staff members. Results are pending on those tests.

Quarantine and isolation procedures were implemented at the prison immediately, and prison clinical staff and representatives of RiverStone Health are conducting contact tracing associated with all presumptive positive cases.

To date, as part of its sentinel testing efforts, the department has tested 616 inmates among all of its facilities and 102 staff members. Tuesday marked the only presumptive positive results the department has received.

The department tracks all results of its COVID-19 testing as they are received on its website — https://cor.mt.gov/COVID-19.

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