MONROE — An incarcerated man at the Monroe Correctional Complex has tested positive for COVID-19, the first inmate to contract the disease while inside a state prison, according to the Washington State Department of Corrections.
The man was housed in the minimum security unit when he started to show symptoms and was tested Sunday at a local hospital, according to a news release. The results came back later that day.
He’s now in isolation at the Monroe complex, where he’s expected to begin treatment, the news release said.
All 119 inmates who live in the man’s former unit have been placed in quarantine. Each person is to be checked for symptoms. In all, 420 people live in the minimum security unit. Staff there have been issued N95 masks.
In March, an employee at the Monroe complex tested positive for COVID-19. Later that month an incarcerated man contracted the disease while staying in a medical center outside the prison.
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