Vermont’s Springfield prison is on full lockdown after 45 new cases of Covid-19 were detected, according to a Sunday press release from the Department of Corrections. The virus was found in eight of the facility’s 10 general population units, according to department spokesperson Rachel Feldman.
None of the new cases found in Friday’s testing of incarcerated people at Southern State Correctional Facility were showing serious symptoms as of Sunday, according to the release.
As of Sunday morning, 102 incarcerated people were positive with the virus across five correctional facilities, nearly twice as many as last Tuesday’s count of 54. This includes 22 incarcerated people who were identified in an outbreak across three general population units at Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland on Tuesday, according to Feldman.
Across the state, 33 staff members were positive for the virus across five correctional facilities, three field offices and the department’s central office.
Staffing is stable at the Springfield prison, according to the release, but the department is “prepared to implement its emergency staffing plan, should it become necessary.”
The Springfield and Rutland prisons, as well as Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport, are all on full lockdown, Feldman said. The other three facilities are on modified operations, she said.
The state Department of Corrections and Department of Health are coordinating on follow-up testing, the Sunday press release stated.
