NEW BOSTON, Texas - The Texas Department of Criminal Justice announced Tuesday that it has begun widespread testing for COVID-19 among Texas prison inmates.
TDCJ is "deploying tens of thousands of COVID-19 oral fluid tests" which are manufactured by Curative Inc. The tests were given FDA approval in April and are designed to be "self-administered by the person being tested," according to TDCJ.
Twelve "strike teams" began the testing in the TDCJ inmate population Tuesday.
"In the first few hours of testing nearly 1,500 tests were administered and collected. Like has occurred in virtually every area where large scale asymptomatic testing has taken place, TDCJ fully expects the number of positive offender cases to expand dramatically. The agency has a plan in place to medically restrict these new asymptomatic cases as needed," TDCJ's website states.
The agency reported Wednesday that 53 employees and 38 inmates at the Barry Telford Unit in New Boston have tested postive for the virus. TDCJ reported Wednesday that two inmate tests are pending and 40 inmates are currently in medical isolation.
Medical isolation is for "people who are sick and contagious. Isolation is used to separate ill persons who have a communicable disease from those who are healthy," according to TDCJ.
TDCJ reported Wednesday that 1,139 Telford inmates are in medical restriction as a precautionary measure.
Medical restriction is used "to separate and restrict the movement of well persons who may have been exposed to a communicable disease to see if they become ill. These people may have been exposed to a disease and do not know it, or they may have the disease but do not show symptoms."
Inmates at Telford with a positive test are not included in the count for Bowie County, where the prison unit is located. Employees are counted in the county where they reside.