CDC study suggests inmates should have been tested in mass

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Correctional facilities that resisted mass coronavirus testing for inmates erred in their decision to only test inmates with symptoms, leading to large initial undercounts, a recent study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention suggested.

The study released this week examined 13 prisons and jails in California, Colorado, Ohio and Texas, and three federal prisons in states that weren’t identified.

Most of the institutions waited several days or weeks before the first identified case of COVID-19 and the beginning of mass inmate testing, the study found.

Mass testing was expensive and ate up staff time, and rearranging living space for inmates based on the results wasn't always possible, corrections officials told researchers.

Yet only testing inmates with coronavirus symptoms “likely underestimated” the number of infected prisoners, the study found. Symptom-based testing also runs the risk of inmates hiding symptoms out of fear of being removed from the regular prison population and being shunned by other inmates.

“Broad-based testing can provide a more accurate assessment of prevalence and generate data to help control transmission,” researchers said.

In one unidentified federal prison where mass testing was delayed nearly six weeks after the first coronavirus case was identified, mass testing found 77% of inmates were positive.

In an Ohio prison where mass testing was delayed almost two weeks after the first case, mass testing found 87% of inmates tested positive.

The study also suggested that multiple re-testing of inmates after initial negative tests could help curb transmission rates.

Mass testing “irrespective of symptoms, combined with periodic retesting, can identify infections and support prevention of widespread...