COVID -19 has spread through the Texas prison system like wildfire. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice says they plan to test every offender and employee.
12 strike forces, fresh out of training, are being deployed to every one of the state's 104 prison units. They will function as the go-between for the self-administered oral swab testing.
TDCJ spokesman Jeremy Desel says "we will be doing tens of thousands of tests in the first week, week and a half alone. The goal is to test everyone within the system."So far, there are 652 TDCJ employees, staff or contractors who have tested positive for COVID-19 and 1733 offenders who have tested positive. There have been 30 confirmed offender deaths and 23 pending autopsy results. 7 staff members have died from COVID-19. There are now 91 employees and 371 offenders who have medically recovered from COVID-19.Nearly 1500 tests were given and collected in the first few hours of testingThe provider of the testing is the same provider who has been handling the drive-through testing in the city of Los Angeles. They've also provided testing for the US Air force. "The return rate has been good. We know there's going to be an increased number of positives both in the offender and employee population, I think we're confident in our ability to continue our medical restriction and medical isolation programs."In a statement, TDCJ Executive Director Brian Collier writes "Finding a testing solution that does not put additional pressure on the agency with greater use of PPE is a huge positive. Increasing the information available to our medical professionals will help us to further enhance the agency’s ability of stop the spread of COVID-19."