COVID outbreak at RSW jail contained; Culpeper prison sees spike

Only 4 inmates at the Rappahannock Shenandoah Warren (RSW) Regional Jail are currently positive for COVID-19 this week, a marked recovery a er 29 were infected last week.

The second outbreak at RSW since the beginning of the pandemic seems to have been contained.

Not the case at the Co eewood Correctional Center in Culpeper County, where 214 inmates are currently infected with COVID-19, four of them hospitalized. Sixteen prison sta also have active cases. To date, 282 inmates at Co eewood have tested positive for the virus.

“Most of the positives we have are asymptomatic,” RSW Superintendent Russell W. Gilkison told the Rappahannock News of his Front Royal jail. “Even though they’re testing positive, they don’t show symptoms or if they do have symptoms they are very mild.”

On Friday, former Rappahannock County Supervisor Bryant Lee told this newspaper that his daughter Brittney, who is currently incarcerated at the jail, was con ned to her 15-person quad to limit the spread of the virus.

Gilkison said the rst case in this outbreak was identi ed on Oct. 20., but this is not the superintendent’s rst rodeo. RSW rst encountered COVID-19 in mid-May when a newly committed inmate told sta he may have been in close contact with an infected person the week before. All told, the May outbreak resulted in 76 cases (71 inmates and 5 sta ), none of which were fatal.

As of Nov. 12, 10 sta members have also recovered from COVID-19. Gilkison expects all currently infected inmates to make a full recovery by Nov. 15.