The state is awaiting test results for 90 Vermont prisoners held in a Mississippi for-profit prison after 85 tested positive for the virus, Department of Corrections Commissioner James Baker said Monday.
CoreCivic, the company that operates the prison, had not been testing its prisoners in its Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility unless they showed symptoms of Covid-19, Baker said.
But after seven prisoners — one a week earlier than the others — arriving in Vermont from Mississippi tested positive for the virus, the Vermont Department of Corrections worked with CoreCivic to get every Vermonters in the prison tested.
Baker said Vermont had not previously questioned the protocol to test only symptomatic prisoners, and that Mississippi has limited testing capacity. “Hindsight is 20/20,” he said.
He said none of the prisoners currently have symptoms that concern them, but said officials in Vermont are working with CoreCivic and Mississippi officials to ensure medical care for the prisoners with Covid.
Baker said three hospitals near the facility — located in one of Mississippi’s poorer communities — could take prisoners with more severe symptoms, but didn’t know the specifics of their capacity.
Asked about Vermont’s contract with CoreCivic, he said the state’s nearly two-year contract was up for renewal in October, but he could not comment on whether the contract would continue.
— Erin Petenko
