832 inmates with COVID-19, but only 2 with symptoms

The state Department of Correction said has completed the mass testing of offenders in the prison system, revealing 9 percent testing positive, or 832 inmates — but only two who showed symptoms.

In all, the department tested 9,504 inmates between May 13 and June 25 in an effort to check for the illness in every prisoner. About 440 opted out, mostly at Osborn Correctional Institute in Somers, and those inmates are being offered tests this week, the department said late Monday.

All of the offenders who tested positive were isolated for two weeks. None beyond the two who showed symptoms developed symptoms during their monitoring periods, the department said in a press release.

The results were in addition to 510 inmates who tested positive before May 13, for a total of 1,342 who have tested positive — about 12 percent of the average population over the last three months.

As of June 16, three were sick with symptoms and 12 were considered to have COVID-19 but did not show symptoms. Seven had died.

Percentages of positive results varies widely, from 45 percent at the

Brooklyn Correctional Institute to three or fewer total cases at four separatre facilities, including the largest, MacDougall-Walker, in Suffield, with 1,862 offenders.

“Mass testing of the Department’s staff is also being conducted, and is still ongoing. To date a total of 593 correctional professionals have been tested, with all but one of the results coming back as negative for the novel coronavirus,” the department added. “Of the approximately 6,000 total staff members working for the Department of Correction, it has been just over a month since a staff member has tested positive for the virus.”

Among the 563 women tested at the York Correctional Institution, 99 percent of that group, none tested positive for the virus.

The prison population has fallen under 10,000 for the first time in nearly 30 years as the number of offenders in the system has fallen by 2,400 since March 1.

An analysis by Hearst Connecticut Media in early June showed that most of the reduction was due to a sharp decline in new imprisonments, although hundreds have been released early amid the threat of coronavirus.