More than 1,800 TN inmates have COVID-19
As of Monday, more than 1,800 inmates currently have the coronavirus, the Tennessee Department of Correction says.
In total, 1,849 inmates at state prisons are currently infected with COVID-19 and 618 have recovered, the state says.
Trousdale Turner Correctional Center in Hartsville, where one prisoner has died, has the highest number of inmates infected with the virus, with 1,285 sick. Approximately 54% of those tested at the state prison had positive test results.
According to national data collected by the New York Times, it ranks as the third largest outbreak in the country.
Although Bledsoe County Correctional Complex in Pikeville was a hotspot and ranked as one of the most infected facilities in the country, almost all of the people who were infected there have recovered. As of Monday, five people are currently sick with the virus and 580 have recovered. One person incarcerated there has died.
At its peak, the Bledsoe County facility saw approximately 25% of inmates test positive.
The outbreaks in both the Trousdale and Bledsoe County facilities are skewing the countywide numbers of infected individuals, putting both rural counties in the Times’ list of top outbreaks nationwide.
As the coronavirus raced through Tennessee prisons, the state launched an initiative to test all inmates being held at state facilities.
Here is the breakdown of state prisons that have current COVID-19 cases:
❚ Trousdale Turner Correctional Facility in Hartsville - 1,285
❚ Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville - 311
❚ Hardeman County Correctional Facility in Whiteville - 148
❚ Mark Luttrell Transition Center in Memphis - 52
❚ Lois M. Derry Special Needs Facility in Nashville - 13
❚ Women’s Therapeutic Residential Center in Henning - 10
❚ Tennessee Prison for Women in
Nashville - 6
❚ Northeast Correctional Complex in Mountain City - 6
❚ Bledsoe County Correctional Complex in Pikeville - 5
❚ Morgan County Correctional Complex in Wartburg - 5
❚ Turney Center Industrial Complex and annex in Only - 5
❚ Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville - 5
❚ West Tennessee State Penitentiary in Henning - 1
Reach Brinley Hineman at bhineman@gannett.com, at 615-278-5164 and on Twitter @brinleyhineman.
As the coronavirus raced through Tennessee prisons, the state launched an initiative to test all inmates being held at state facilities.