Corrections Department: 72 COVID-19 Positives Among Windham Inmates

Maine Public | By Susan Sharon

Published November 3, 2020 at 4:34 PM EST

The Maine Department of Corrections announced on Tuesday that 72 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham.

The results were determined through rapid antigen testing. These inmates are now being housed together.

In a written statement, the DOC says the vast majority are asymptomatic while a few report mild symptoms. In addition, there are 9 positive cases of COVID-19 among MCC staff. Universal testing has shown that the outbreak is confined to two units at the Windham facility.

Meanwhile, at the Maine State Prison in Warren, three inmates have now tested positive for COVID-19. They join three staff members who were previously diagnosed with the infection.

Retesting of inmates and staff will continue throughout the week.

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Susan Sharon

Deputy News Director Susan Sharon is a reporter and editor whose on-air career in public radio began as a student at the University of Montana. Early on, she also worked in commercial television doing a variety of jobs. Susan first came to Maine Public Radio as a State House reporter whose reporting focused on politics, labor and the environment. More recently she's been covering corrections, social justice and human interest stories. Her work, which has been recognized by SPJ, SEJ, PRNDI and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, has taken her all around the state — deep into the woods, to remote lakes and ponds, to farms and factories and to the Maine State Prison. Over the past two decades, she's contributed more than 100 stories to NPR.

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