517 Tucson Prisoners Test Positive For Coronavirus

TUCSON, AZ — More than 500 inmates at a state prison in Tucson have tested positive for the coronavirus, the Arizona Department of Corrections said late Tuesday. The prison unit houses approximately 1,066 inmates, meaning half the population has been infected with the virus.

The Whetstone unit of the state prison complex in Tucson is the site of the outbreak. In its announcement, the state corrections department said the 517 inmates who tested positive have been separated from the rest of the population and are receiving medical care. Staff in that area have been provided with personal protective equipment, they said. Inmates were not provided face masks until July 2.

All prisoners in the Whetstone unit, regardless of their status, will now be receiving meals and medical care in their cells.

"Those inmates who tested positive are currently being housed as a cohort together in separate areas and are receiving appropriate medical care," the corrections department said in a statement. "They will not be allowed back into the general population until they have been medically cleared."

The corrections department has made it a goal to test all inmates as Arizona continues to battle COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. According to the coronavirus tracker on its website, 890 inmates and 564 staff members at Arizona state prisons have tested positive for the coronavirus. It is unclear if that includes the recent Whetstone cases.

Cleaning has been heightened throughout the complex since the inmates tested positive, corrections officials said.

"Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department has taken significant actions to mitigate the risk and impacts of COVID-19 in its facilities," the statement continued. "Keeping our staff, inmates and communities safe continues to be our top priority."