Two more DOC inmates test positive for COVID-19

TUMWATER, Wash.-- The Washington State Department of Corrections reported Tuesday night that two more incarcerated men at the Monroe Correctional Complex have tested positive for COVID-19.

According to a press release, both men, ages 68 and 28, were housed in the minimum security unit, the same area where the first inmate who tested positive was also housed. Jail officials say the two men were transferred to an isolation until April 5th as a result of contact mapping related to the first inmate who tested positive. The test results for the two prisoners returned positive on Tuesday, April 7.

DOC officials say there are 17 incarcerated men housed in the isolation unit, and the facility's health care team is monitoring the individuals for signs of the virus.

Another 111 inmates in the Minimum Security Unit are on protective isolation or quarantine as a precaution. Officials say individuals who are most vulnerable have been moved for their protection, and all individuals in the housing unit where the first positive individual was housed who are not showing symptoms or coronavirus are wearing surgical masks.

Facility staff who were issued N95 respirators are being strongly encouraged to wear them. No inmates are being transferred into or out of the Monroe Correctional Complex as of the morning of April 7, 2020.