WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (WAVY) — On Tuesday, staff and inmates at the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail went for another round of COVID-19 testings.
The latest comes after VPRJ received confirmation that an inmate had tested positive for COVID-19 the previous week. Additionally, a number of VPRJ staff have tested positive over the last two weeks.
“Since the Thanksgiving holiday, prisons and jails across the Commonwealth, as well as the nation, have seen a significant increase in positivity for COVID-19 among their employees and inmate population,” said Superintendent Colonel Roy Witham.
An estimated 450 total tests were conducted by the Virginia Army National Guard with the help of the Virginia Department of Health (VDH).
This is the third mass testing event to take place at VPRJ since the beginning of the pandemic in March of 2020, and the second testing event which saw all staff as well as all inmates tested.
Currently, VPRJ has received no timeline on when medical staff, correctional officers, or inmates
can expect to receive either of the two vaccines recently authorized for emergency use by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).