Texas plans widespread virus testing of inmates as prisons account for 2,000 of state’s 41,000 cases
HOUSTON, Texas — Texas will begin widespread coronavirus testing in state prisons where at least 30 people have died, officials announced Tuesday.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott also said he tested negative for the virus after his visit last week to the White House came on the same day that a valet to President Donald Trump tested positive.
Texas has 41,048 cases and at least 1,133 deaths related to the virus as of Tuesday. The true numbers are likely higher because many people have not been tested and studies suggest people can be infected and not feel sick.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice announced that tens of thousands of Covid-19 tests are on the way to the state’s prisons, where inmates have tested positive at a dramatically higher rate than the rest of Texas.
The tests are designed to be self-administered and a dozen “strike teams” are receiving training this week, agency spokesman Jeremy Desel said. It was the second announcement of widespread testing in Texas in as many days: Abbott on Monday ordered coronavius testing for every nursing home resident and staff member in the state.
As of Tuesday, 2,009 prison inmates and staff have tested positive, according to the agency. The sick has included 10 inmates at the Pack Unit near Houston, where sanitary and health conditions are the subject of a federal class action lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Abbott told Wichita Falls television station KAUZ that he has tested negative for the virus. He had visited the White House last week on the same day a member of the military serving as one of Trump’s valets tested positive.
