Montana private prison reports COVID outbreak, 29 cases

by The Associated Press

Tue, September 29th 2020, 2:30 AM UTC

FILE - Vials with samples taken for the new coronavirus are counted before they are prepared for RNA testing at the molecular pathology lab at Tulane University School of Medicine. (AP FILE Photo/Gerald Herbert)

HELENA, Mont. — Just over two dozen inmates and detainees at a private prison in north-central Montana have tested positive for COVID-19.

Nearly 200 people at Crossroads Correctional Facility in Shelby were tested last Thursday and Friday and 26 people tested positive.

Prison operator CoreCivic says all of the inmates and detainees were asymptomatic at the time of testing. Officials say the testing involved close contacts of other people who had tested positive.

CoreCivic officials say three prison employees have tested positive and "are recovering at home."

Montana reported 306 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, including 31 in Toole County, where the private prison is located.

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