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Mass Testing At Davidson County Jail Reveals 135 New Coronavirus Cases

WPLN

  An additional 135 inmates at the men’s Davidson County Correctional Development Center have tested positive for the coronavirus after a round of mass testing at the minimum security jail.

The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office says all of the men are currently asymptomatic.

More than 500 inmates were tested after 48 with symptoms turned out positivelast week. Four staff members also turned up positive, with other results pending from the 164 employees tested.

The outbreak follows a May 26 announcement that all county inmates who had tested positive had recovered.

Until now, the testing at Nashville’s jails has been on a case-by-case basis.

State prisons decided to test everyone after large outbreaks at facilities in Bledsoe and Trousdale counties where most positive cases showed no symptoms.

Blake Farmer is Nashville Public Radio's senior health care reporter. In a partnership with Kaiser Health News and NPR, Blake covers health in Tennessee and the health care industry in the Nashville area for local and national audiences.
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