An employee at the Maine State Prison in Warren has tested positive for COVID-19.
In a press release, the Maine Department of Corrections says after a rapid antigen test came back positive, it began working with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention on contact tracing and locked down the facility. The initial positive test has since been confirmed.
DOC is now testing all staff and inmates at the prison, which it says could take several days.
This is the first case at the Maine State Prison, but not in Maine’s correctional system. Five adult inmates at Maine Correctional Center in Windham have tested positive, as have two DOC employees at facilities in Warren and Charleston. And a juvenile tested positive upon release form Long Creek Youth Detention Center in South Portland.