THATCHER — According to the Arizona Department of Corrections website, just one inmate has been tested at Arizona State Prison-Safford, with that test coming back as negative.
The Arizona Department of Corrections is reporting that 210 inmates have been tested, with 152 coming back as negative and 50 testing positive. Eight test results are pending as of Wednesday and two inmates who tested positive have fully recovered.
ASP-Florence has conducted the most tests at 85, with 35 coming back as positive. Positive cases were also discovered at ASP-Eyman (5), ASP-Perryville (1), ASP-Tucson (1) and eight at the private prison in Marana.
The website does not include data on the testing of prison staff.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, there are 1,692 inmates and 349 prison staff nationwide who have tested positive for COVID-19.
While no positive cases are reported for Arizona on the Bureau of Prison’s website, there is one inmate death listed on the COVID-19 page, occurring at Behavioral Systems Southwest in Phoenix.
“When an inmate dies or recovers from a prior positive test for COVID-19, our website’s total for the institution (or state in the map) drops this case from the total number of positive inmates. While our Coronavirus resource page here https://www.bop.gov/coronavirus/index.jsp cites 1,692 positive inmates and 426 inmates who have recovered from COVID-19 Bureau-wide, we are not posting the recovery totals by institution or state,” said Justin Long with the Office of Public Affairs for the Bureau of Prisons.
Gila Valley Central’s e-mails to the Arizona Department of Corrections requesting data on the testing of prison staff were not immediately returned.
Editor’s note: This story was edited at 1:30 p.m. Friday, May 1, 2020, to include comments from the Bureau of Prisons.
