MO Prison Inmate Tests Positive For Covid-19

A Missouri prison inmate has tested positive for COVID-19.

The Missouri Department of Corrections says an inmate at the Western Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in northwest Missouri’s St. Joseph is the first reported Coronavirus case among all state prisoners. There are no reported cases of COVID-19 among prison staff.

The offender is being treated at a Kansas City area hospital, where he was admitted March 19th. Before being hospitalized, he was being monitored for a suspected respiratory condition and had been isolated in a negative airflow chamber at the prison since March 4th.

No other prisoners have had contact with the man since March 4. The department says medical and custody staff have followed all safety protocols.

How the inmate contracted the virus is still under investigation.