All Of Montco Correctional Facility To Be Tested For Coronavirus

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — All staff and inmates at Montgomery County Correctional Facility will undergo testing for coronavirus, after the prison's first inmate died from the virus recently.

The testing will begin on Thursday, Sept. 3. It is the third round of complete testing of the entire prison population and all employees. Even if an inmate has previously received a test, they will be tested again.

Previous rounds of testing were conducted in April and May, revealing that at 17 percent of all inmates had the virus. At the time, none of those individuals were showing symptoms.

>>17 Percent Of All Montco Correctional Inmates Have Coronavirus

In a Wednesday news briefing, Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh said the situation at the prison remained stable and that there were no new cases to report.

A total of 24 inmates and 15 regular staff tested positive in the facility between Aug. 2 and Aug. 26. All were quarantined.

In the months since, the county has continued to carefully monitor the situation at the prison, and has tested each new arriving inmate at the prison.

The first death was reported last week. The victim, who was not identified by name, was a man was over 60, and had three underlying medical conditions which put him at greater risk for dying from the virus. He had been incarcerated since mid-2018.

The results from the third round of testing at the facility will be shared with the public next week.