DOVER, Del.- Ten days after the Delaware Department of Correction announced the results of proactive COVID-19 testing for the entire inmate population at Sussex Correctional Institution, officials announced Thursday that 263 inmates - nearly three-quarters of all inmates who tested positive for the illness at two correctional facilities this month - have already recovered. The vast majority have remained free of symptoms since their positive test results were received.
“Inmates at SCI are recovering quickly and fully due to our aggressive mitigation and treatment efforts, and that's a direct result of the hard work and dedication of the leadership and officers at SCI and the high quality of care being provided by our correctional healthcare provider," DOC Commissioner Claire DeMatteis said. "Many new recoveries take place every day, and today only 14 inmates have any symptoms of illness."
Additionally, DOC announced that one work release participant from the Plummer Community Corrections Center in Wilmington has tested positive for COVID-19. The result comes from DOC's weekly proactive COVID-19 testing of all work release participants statewide. The offender is asymptomatic of illness and has been transferred to the COVID-19 Treatment Center at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna.
DOC said it immediately initiated contact tracing efforts, isolated and tested other inmates who came into sustained contact with the offender, and communicated with the work release employer to initiate precautionary measures. This is the first PCCC offender to test positive during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After a two-month suspension, DOC restarted work release for a limited number of offenders this past month with rigorous safeguards in place, including isolation of all work release participants from other offenders at all times, twice-daily symptom checks, employer monitoring, and weekly proactive COVID-19 testing.
