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After months of outbreaks and 42 COVID-related deaths of inmates, the Oregon Department of Corrections reported its lowest count of active cases since the pandemic began.
As of March 22, there are 16 active COVID cases among all state prisons, according to data from DOC. That's a major decline from a peak of a more than 730 active cases in DOC facilities. In total, over 3,500 inmates have tested positive for the virus.
Since the pandemic began, 838 corrections staff have tested positive for the virus. During a March 15 meeting before the Oregon House Subcommittee on COVID-19, DOC director Colette Peters said there are now only nine active cases among staff.
That decline in cases follows a Feb. 2 order by a federal judge mandating that the state offer vaccines to all Oregon inmates "as soon as possible."
During the Tuesday hearing, DOC's chief medical director Dr. Warren Roberts said every Oregon inmate who wanted a vaccine has now had at least the first dose.
As of March 15, Roberts said, 9,156 of DOC's approximately 13,000 inmates have received their first dose, and 1,256 have received the second dose.
"We will not stop until we have eradicated COVID-19 from our institutions," Roberts said.
