State officials are working on a pilot project to improve COVID-19 monitoring at Kentucky prisons. State Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack offered details during Tuesday’s coronavirus briefing at the capitol.
Stack said the pilot involves the testing of waste water. “It enables us to monitor a population that confined in an area without having to test them unless we see a warning sign in the waste water. It also shows up multiple days earlier than people become symptomatic in the confined community. So, there’s a lot of reason to be hopeful about this,” said Stack.
State Cabinet Secretary J. Michael Brown said positive coronavirus tests have been reported in six of 13 prisons. Dr. Stack says the University of Louisville and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are involved in the pilot waste water testing initiative. Governor Beshear reported 627 new cases of COVID-19. The governor also said there were 12 additional deaths.
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