Middleton

In Mass. Jail COVID Outbreak, 25 Inmates, 23 Workers Test Positive

All inmates and staff are now being tested.

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A virus cluster at a jail in Middleton, Massachusetts, is growing, the Essex County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement Saturday.

Twenty-five inmates, 21 employees and two contractors have tested positive. Each case showed mild symptoms; none have required hospitalization, the sheriff's department said. All inmates and staff are now being tested.

Also on Saturday, 28 male patients at the Massachusetts Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center in Plymouth tested positive for the virus, the state correction department said. Eleven employees with Wellpath, which handles inmate health care for the department, also tested positive.

State public health officials on Sunday reported 626 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. Officials also reported three new deaths, pushing the death toll in Massachusetts to at least 9,295. Total cases surged past 132,440.

Copyright The Associated Press
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