HELENA — CoreCivic, the operator of the Crossroads Correctional Center in Shelby, says 26 inmates at the prison have tested positive for COVID-19.
According to a news release provided by Ryan Gustin, CoreCivic's Public Affairs Manager, the prison tested 196 inmates. Of the 26 who tested positive, none showed symptoms of the coronavirus.
Prison officials conducted the testing of inmates and detainees on Thursday and Friday of last week. The testing was done in partnership with the Montana Department of Corrections and the Toole County Health Department.
CoreCivic says inmates who tested positive for the virus or who may have come in contact with positive cases have been isolated.
The company did not say whether any prison staff had tested positive for COVID-19.
The 700-bed Crossroads Correctional Center is the state's only private prison. It employs nearly 180 people when fully staffed. CoreCivic, the prison's operator, is based in Tennessee.
There were 306 new cases and one new death added to the total on the Montana Response COVID-19 tracking site on Monday morning. The data below is from the official Montana website on September 28:
- TOTAL CASES & RECOVERIES: Montana now reports 12,413 cumulative cases statewide, with 8,839 people recovered.
- HOSPITALIZATIONS: The state reports 158 active hospitalizations, and a cumulative total of 698 hospitalizations.
- ACTIVE CASES: The state reports there are currently 3,400 active COVID-19 cases in Montana.
- TESTING: The number of tests increased by 6,889 over the previous 24-hour reporting period, for a new cumulative state-wide total of 337,196.
- DEATHS: The cumulative number of deaths in Montana is at 174, an increase of one since Sunday.
Numbers reported by the state each day occasionally differ from those reported by county public health departments due to periodic lag times in reporting data to the state. We encourage people to check the official website and/or Facebook page of their respective county health department for any updates that are not yet included in the state's daily updates.
- What constitutes a recovery in official reports? Click here for details.
- What's driving the spike in COVID-19 cases? Click here for details.
- Privacy laws and medical information: Click here for details.
CDC: The federal Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) released data last month which emphasizes that people with contributing or underlying medical conditions are at much greater risk of dying from COVID-19. According to the CDC, an estimated 94% of all COVID-related deaths in the nation were people who had contributing medical conditions and diseases. The CDC report states: "For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned. For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death." The report states that the most common underlying medical conditions that contributed to COVID-related deaths include respiratory diseases such as pneumonia, asthma, and COPD; diabetes; hyptertensive diseases; and heart disease. Click here to learn more on the CDC website.
The CDC also recently released an update to their research into fatality rates associated with COVID-19. A summary of COVID-19 survival rates is shown below; the summary is one of five based on several scenarios. The CDC data and scenarios can be found here.
COVID-19 Survival Rates
- Age 0-19: 99.997%
- Age 20-49: 99.98%
- Age 50-69: 99.5%
- Age 70+: 94.6%
The CDC says the scenarios are intended to advance public health preparedness and planning, and are not predictions or estimates of the expected impact of COVID-19. The parameter values in each scenario will be updated and augmented over time, as the agency learns more about the epidemiology of COVID-19. The update from September 10th is based on data received by the CDC through August 8.