Mass Testing for SARS-CoV-2 in 16 Prisons and Jails — Six Jurisdictions, United States, April–May 2020

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Hagan, Liesl M. ; Williams, Samantha P. ; Spaulding, Anne C. ; Toblin, Robin L. ; Figlenski, Jessica ; Ocampo, Jeanne ; Ross, Tara ; Bauer, Heidi ; Hutchinson, Justine ; Lucas, Kimberley D. ; Zahn, Matthew ; Chiang, Chun ; Collins, Timothy ; Burakoff, Alexis ; Bettridge, Juli ; Stringer, Ginger ; Maul, Randolph ; Waters, Kristen ; Dewart, Courtney ; Clayton, Jennifer ; de Fijter, Sietske ; Sadacharan, Radha ; Garcia, Linda ; Lockett, Naomi ; Short, Kirstin ; Sunder, Laxman ; Handanagic, Senad
• Description:
  Preventing coronaVirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in correctional and detention facilities* can be challenging because of population-dense housing, varied access to hygiene facilities and supplies, and limited space for isolation and quarantine (1). Incarcerated and detained populations have a high prevalence of chronic Diseases, increasing their risk for severe COVID-19-associated illness and making early detection critical (2,3). Correctional and detention facilities are not closed systems; SARS-CoV-2, the Virus that causes COVID-19, can be transmitted to and from the surrounding community through staff member and visitor movements as well as entry, transfer, and release of incarcerated and detained persons (1). To better understand SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in these settings, CDC requested data from 15 jurisdictions describing results of mass tTesting events among incarcerated and detained persons and cases identified through earlier symptom-based tTesting. Six jurisdictions reported SARS-CoV-2 prevalence of 0%-86.8% (median = 29.3%) from mass tTesting events in 16 adult facilities. Before mass tTesting, 15 of the 16 facilities had identified at least one COVID-19 case among incarcerated or detained persons using symptom-based tTesting, and mass tTesting increased the total number of known cases from 642 to 8,239. Case Surveillance from symptom-based tTesting has likely underestimated SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in correctional and detention facilities. Broad-based tTesting can provide a more accurate assessment of prevalence and generate data to help control Transmission (4).
• Subjects:
  Clinical Laboratory Techniques CoronaVirus Infections COVID-19 Disease Outbreaks Full Report Housing Humans Mass Screening Pandemics Pneumonia, Viral Prevalence Prisons

  More +
• Source:
  MMWR Morbidity Mortal Weekly Rep. 69(33):1139-1143
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Pubmed ID:
  32817597
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC7439979
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Pages in Document:
  5 pdf pages
• Volume:
  69
• Issue:
  33
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:abd50dde68a929327e5d798ba0073c250e88c40d90c7be8e341cdb9cf8346fb83fee12f10fd501a47b6e4b0bf957e554a6ad4f0d3ff76257341fead62ff56a37
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/92572/cdc_92572_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 115.82 KB ]