KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — The Knox County Sheriff's Office reports 36 confirmed COVID-19 cases among inmates, most coming from its Work Release Center.
Sheriff's spokeswoman Kimberly Glenn said all are quarantined "and none have had to be hospitalized at this time."
Through most of the spring and summer, the department reported low case counts. But jails across the state have struggled to contain the virus as it has ebbed and flowed.
Defense attorneys have feared with close confinement that prison and jail inmates and employees could be more susceptible to exposure.
Work Release is part of the department's jail system. Inmates typically are doing jobs during the day while on work release as they serve their sentence.
Late last month, Blount County Sheriff Jim Berrong announced 141 inmates there had tested positive for COVID-19 tests were administered to more than 600 deputies and inmates.
Berrong said his department had tested 493 inmates and 126 employees. At that time, no employees had tested positive for COVID-19.
One inmate was under medical care and three inmates were reporting mild symptoms.
Almost all of those who tested positive were asymptomatic.
The Tennessee Department of Correction announced Wednesday the results of a new round of testing for more than 2,600 inmates statewide.
The results:
Bledsoe County Correctional Complex------------------------------1
DeBerry Special Needs Facility---------------------------------------34
Debra Johnson Rehabilitation Center-----------------------------145
Mark Luttrell Transition Center----------------------------------------1
Morgan County Correctional Complex-------------------------------0
Northeast Correctional Complex-------------------------------------67
Riverbend Maximum Security Institution--------------------------53
Turney Center Industrial Complex-------------------------------------0
Women’s Therapeutic Residential Center---------------------------0
West Tennessee State Penitentiary----------------------------------84