Gov. Jim Justice has dispatched the National Guard to the Huttonsville Correctional Center after 25 more cases of COVID-19 were discovered at the jail this week.
Four more employees at Huttonsville have also tested positive, according to a press release.
“All positive employees are in good condition and are recovering at home,” the release states. “All the positive inmates are in good or fair condition in medical isolation at the facility.”
The first positive case at the facility was discovered last week when a part-time employee tested positive for the disease. An inmate tested positive on Monday, but at the time the governor said the cases were not believed to be related.
As the virus continued to spread in the facility, Justice ordered comprehensive testing for employees, and on Friday he directed the National Guard to test all the inmates at the facility.
“Justice had previously said that all inmates would be tested if there were additional positives,” according to the release. “Justice on Friday also directed the W.Va. National Guard, which completed testing of Huttonsville staff on Thursday, to sanitize affected housing areas, the dining hall and the positive employees’ offices.”
Contact tracing showed a link between some of the employees who have tested positive for COVID-19.
“The latest results from that tracing process show connections between three of those positive employees,” according to the press release. “One of those employees shares an office with a fourth positive employee – and that employee was in close proximity to the first inmate confirmed positive.”
There are about 1,030 inmates at the facility in Randolph County.