Worker Virus Case Speeds up Wyoming Prison System Testing

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A contract healthcare worker at Wyoming’s maximum-security prison has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Corrections officials are now speeding up plans to test all inmates and staff, starting at the Wyoming State Penitentiary next week.

The contract worker testing positive and five staff members who had extended, direct contact with that person at the state penitentiary in Rawlins are self-isolating.

The person is the second worker in Wyoming’s prison system with the virus after a staffer at the Wyoming Women’s Center in Lusk tested positive in April.

Wyoming remains one of just a couple states with no known coronavirus cases among its inmates.