The most recent round of testing shows that the coronavirus outbreak at Goose Creek Correctional Center in Point MacKenzie nearly doubled since last week.
Results from tests taken on Thursday showed 47 new cases of coronavirus among inmates at the facility, which is the state’s largest prison.
That brings the total number of positives at the facility during the recent outbreak to 110. Last Thursday, the Department of Corrections confirmed 62 positive cases.
Goose Creek is isolating inmates who test positive in a designated unit, while others who may have been exposed are quarantining in their cells. The isolation unit has enough rooms for 128 inmates. A spokesperson for the DOC was not immediately available to clarify where inmates would be held if the number of positive cases exceeds the number of available isolation rooms.
The new cases make Goose Creek the largest outbreak in the correctional system so far during the pandemic. The next largest, at the Fairbanks Correctional Center, had 104 at the last count, according to a DOC spokesperson.
Officials say they will continue testing all inmates that were in the same area as the positives every three days until all the tests come back negative for three weeks. The outbreak was first reported last week.
Lex Treinen is covering the state Legislature for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at ltreinen@gmail.com.
