Nine incarcerated individuals at the St. Johnsbury prison tested positive for Covid-19, sending the facility into lockdown, the state Department of Corrections announced late Monday afternoon.
Seven of the people who tested positive for the coronavirus live in the same housing unit, according to Rachel Feldman, a spokesperson for the state corrections department. Two incarcerated individuals who live in a different housing unit also tested positive, Feldman said.
The first case, according to the corrections department, was detected through testing that took place Oct. 25, leading to the housing unit being placed on lockdown. Later testing on Oct. 29 revealed six more Covid-19 cases from that same unit, and the entire facility was placed on lockdown upon receiving the latest test results Sunday.
Three of those incarcerated individuals who tested positive had been vaccinated, three had not been vaccinated and one had been partially vaccinated, according to Feldman.
[Looking for data on breakthrough cases? See our reporting on the latest available statistics.]
Feldman said later Monday afternoon that additional testing revealed two more incarcerated individuals also had tested positive, resulting in a total of nine Covid-19 cases at the prison. The vaccination status for those two was not immediately available.
Everyone at the entire Northeast Correctional Complex in St. Johnsbury will be tested Tuesday and again Friday, according to the corrections department.
Throughout the statewide correctional system, as of Monday, seven staff members and nine incarcerated individuals are currently positive for Covid-19.
Five of Vermont’s correctional facilities and one field office have positive Covid-19 staff cases, according to the corrections department. All cases involving incarcerated individuals are at the St. Johnsbury prison, according to Feldman.
