By Emily Hamer
The Wisconsin State Journal
MADISON, Wis. — On Monday, for the first time since the pandemic hit, no inmates in the entire Wisconsin prison system were infected with COVID-19.
The active case count among prisoners dropped to zero across all 37 of the state Department of Corrections’ adult and youth facilities, according to the department’s COVID-19 data dashboard. There were still three active positive cases among staff Monday, but employees quarantine at home when infected.
The last time inmate case numbers were that low was April 2, 2020, the day before DOC reported the first Wisconsin prisoner infected with COVID-19, at Columbia Correctional Institution.
What followed was many months of cases slowly ticking up, then skyrocketing into the thousands in the fall. Daily cases counts plummeted in January and have remained low throughout the spring as more prisoners get vaccinated.
Monday’s news marks a positive milestone after dozens of outbreaks that involved hundreds of COVID-19 infections throughout the pandemic, and inmates who said they feared for their lives as the department struggled to contain the spread.
COVID-19 caused the deaths of 32 inmates. Nearly 11,000 of the roughly 20,000 state inmates were infected.
More than 12,400 inmates, or 65.4% of the eligible population, were fully vaccinated as of June 19, according to the most recent day data that is available. The vaccine numbers will be updated Tuesday.
With more people getting vaccinated and case counts consistently low, DOC announced in early June that in-person visitation will resume July 6.
All prison visits except those from inmates’ attorneys and other professionals have been suspended since March 13, 2020.
(c)2021 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.)