The Oklahoma Department of Corrections cancelled visitation at all state prisons over the weekend following an outbreak at the Lexington Correctional Center, where 87 inmates inside one housing unit tested positive in the last 24 hours. All of the inmates reported no symptoms prior to testing and were placed in isolation, the agency said in a press release.
Earlier this week, state health officials tested 185 inmates quarantined together after two housed in the unit tested positive for coronavirus during hospital visits.
As a precaution, the agency said it was requesting the health department test inmates at the adjoining Lexington Assessment and Reception Center, which is where all new inmates enter the state prison system.
In April, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma warned that the state prison system was unprepared to deal with the pandemic.