JANESVILLE, Wis. — A second round of testing at the Rock County Jail resulted in another 36 inmates testing positive for the coronavirus, as well as six staff members. Last week, 86 inmates tested positive for the virus out of a total jail population of around 230. The additional round of testing was prompted by inmates who were known to have been exposed to an inmate who tested positive in their unit.
Two Rock County inmates reported mild COVID-19 symptoms to jail staff last Tuesday. Both of these inmates tested positive and other inmates began reporting symptoms, prompting mass testing for all inmates in the jail.
Inmates at the jail last Wednesday morning said testing didn’t start until several days after multiple people in a single work unit came down with symptoms including migraines, body aches and diarrhea. You can read more about our conversations with inmates and their family members here. Inmates are kept in a two-week quarantine prior to release into the general population, but are not tested as part of that process.
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