Wyoming Department of Corrections Report 2 COVID-19 Cases

According to a report put out by the Wyoming Department of Corrections on the number of COVID-19 cases in Wyoming prisons, over the past week, across the five facilities the department operates, there have been two cases total, both located in the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins.

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In total there have been three inmate deaths associated with COVID-19 across five Wyoming correctional facilities operated by the Department of Corrections.

Paul Martin, Deputy Administrator for the  Wyoming Department of Corrections Transparency Division, said the department has conducted over 26,000 COVID-19 tests since testing began last April.

Martin said he could not say the number of deaths among staff at these facilities, as that information is protected by HIPPA law.

Usually the facilities test about 20% of the facilities population, however Martin said if any of the tests come back positive, the entire population of the facilities is tested.

According to a report by the New York Times from March 2020 to March 2021 on COVID-19 infections among inmates, Wyoming has had a total of 879 infections among inmates across those five facilities.

The most recent numbers from four of the five correctional facilities in Wyoming, excluding the Wyoming Women's Center, put the number of cases up to 1,152.

The infection rate for inmates has been much higher across the country, with many states having rates three to nine times higher inside prisons versus the rest of the population of the state.

In Wyoming, the infection rate has been of 10 per 100 people for the general public, while for inmates that same rate has been 43 per 100 for people, making infections rates 4.4 times inside prisons.