ST. CLOUD, Minn. — There are new developments involving another COVID-19 outbreak in a Minnesota prison, this time in St. Cloud.
According to the Minnesota Department of Corrections, 52 people have tested positive at the prison so far this month.
That number includes both inmates and staff members.
It’s a pretty big jump considering the St. Cloud prison only had two confirmed cases of COVID-19 during the first three months of the pandemic.
Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell says they’re not sure at this time whether the outbreak has been contained or if more cases will emerge in the coming days.
"While we certainly hope this is it, we can't be sure," Schnell says.
Corrections officials still don’t know how the virus got into the facility.
The St. Cloud Prison is unique among other prisons in Minnesota.
During the pandemic the facility has served as the main intake facility for the entire state.
As the intake facility, every new inmate who comes into the statewide system must serve a 14-day quarantine in St. Cloud before they can be transferred to whatever prison they’ve been assigned to.
This procedure was added to hopefully prevent new inmates from bringing the virus into prison and spreading it to other inmates.
Now with this outbreak, Schnell says they’ve added an additional safety measure.
All inmates who are transferred out of St. Cloud must fulfill another 14-day quarantine when they arrive at their new prison.
"They will stay with the cohort of people they were with during the move so that we can do the best job possible in containing spread," Schnell says.
It's not the first outbreak corrections officials have had to deal with.
Back in April, they saw over 60 confirmed COVID cases at the Moose Lake Prison and more than 70 cases at prison in Willow River.
However, the biggest outbreak happened in June at the Faribault Prison.
In just one week, more than 150 people tested positive for the virus.
In the weeks that followed that number grew to 205 confirmed cases.
"It's stunning to me that all of a sudden we have 200 people who are affected by this virus and almost no symptoms,” Schnell says. “It's a reminder to all of just how virulent this virus is, how easy it can spread."
Schnell says he’s thankful that his agency has only had a handful of severe cases and two deaths, which compared to most other states is relatively low.
"But we can't rest on our laurels. We have to continue to be vigilant and that's both for our prisons, our staff, and really across our state. All of us need to be vigilant about this."
Starting on July 22, the Minnesota Department of Corrections is loosening the restrictions on visitors.
Visitors will be allowed if a prison has had less than two confirmed cases over the last 14 days.
Right now, visitors are not allowed at the prisons in St. Cloud, Lino Lakes or Shakopee.
Visitors have also been restricted from visiting the Moose Lake Prison until August 5, due to ongoing construction.