Nearly 100 inmates housed at the Loxley Community-Based Facility, commonly known as the Loxley Work Release Center, have tested positive for COVID-19, according to results from a statewide testing effort covering Alabama’s correctional system.
The Alabama Department of Corrections has been rolling out free COVID-19 testing for both staff and inmates at facilities across the state, working through the process in regional groups so that officials can take appropriate quarantine and staffing steps once results are verified. The Loxley facility, located in Baldwin County, was part of the fourth group of facilities to be tested, alongside Fountain Correctional Facility in Atmore, the North Alabama Community-Based Facility in Decatur, and Kilby Correctional Facility in Montgomery.
Of the 1,144 inmates statewide who voluntarily took part in the latest round of testing, 163 came back with new positive results. The Loxley facility accounted for the largest share of those cases, with 94 inmates testing positive in a single round of results. The North Alabama Community-Based Facility in Decatur reported the next-highest total, with 69 inmates testing positive.
State corrections officials said the newly identified cases include inmates who are showing symptoms as well as those who are asymptomatic. Quarantine protocols already in place at the Loxley facility are being maintained for inmates who tested positive, and officials said additional isolation measures are being implemented as recommended by the department’s contracted state medical director wherever needed.
Staff members at the Loxley facility were also tested as part of the same effort. One staff member at the Loxley Community-Based Facility tested positive, one of five new staff cases confirmed across the group of facilities tested; the North Alabama Community-Based Facility reported four staff cases. All staff members who tested positive were directed to self-quarantine under the guidance of their healthcare providers.
The Department of Corrections’ Office of Health Services said it has opened investigations to determine whether any inmates or employees had direct, prolonged exposure to the staff members who tested positive. Once that review is complete, any employees identified as having had close contact will be advised to reach out to their healthcare providers and begin self-quarantine as recommended.
The Loxley Work Release Center houses inmates who are nearing the end of their sentences and are approved to work outside the facility in the surrounding community, an arrangement that has drawn added scrutiny during the pandemic given the regular movement of inmates and staff between the facility and area workplaces. Baldwin County has otherwise seen a steady stream of COVID-19 case updates throughout 2020 as local health officials have worked to track community spread alongside outbreaks tied to specific institutions.
State corrections officials have said the rolling, regional testing program is intended to give administrators an accurate, facility-by-facility picture of the virus’s spread so that quarantine housing, staffing levels and medical resources can be adjusted quickly. Additional groups of facilities are expected to be tested and reported on in the weeks ahead as the department continues working through its statewide system.