Inmates housed in Arizona’s prison system will soon see a second round of COVID-19 testing. Rapid virus tests will be available for prison employees as needed.
About 38,000 inmates will receive the additional tests, beginning in January. The Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry maintains an online dashboard with inmate case numbers.
Of the more than 42,700 inmates tested since March, about 7,00 of them were positive for the virus.
Twenty-six inmates have died with either confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19.
Department officials say testing inmates allows them to be grouped and isolated to reduce virus spread in prison facilities.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to correct number of positive cases.
