DES MOINES – Officials with the Iowa Department of Corrections, Friday, said the Anamosa State Penitentiary and the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women received the results of positive COVID-19 tests Thursday afternoon. Due to the new positive cases, those facilities are entering a restricted movement status to mitigate further viral spread. While on restricted movement, video visitations have been suspended at this time at both facilities.

The facilities are currently organizing mass-testing for inmates and staff in the coming days to identify any additional inmates that should be placed in medical isolation or quarantine units as part of the facilities’ virus mitigation strategies. As additional testing is conducted and additional inmates are identified as positive for COVID-19, updates will be posted at https://doc.iowa.gov/COVID19. Whenever an inmate tests positive for COVID-19, staff notify the inmate’s emergency contact immediately.

The department says it has been preparing for and dealing with the eventuality of COVID-19 in the prison system for months. Since the start of the pandemic, the department has had over 1,200 inmates and over 200 staff recover from the virus and a total of 4 inmates that passed away due to complications related to the virus.

An outline of the changes to DOC protocols can be found at doc.iowa.gov/department-corrections-steps, and more information related to COVID-19 in the DOC can be found at doc.iowa.gov/COVID19. For members of the public with questions about COVID-19 in the prison system, a hotline is available during business hours Monday-Friday by calling (515) 373-5457. For more on the free o-mails, phone calls and video visitation that the department has provided for those incarcerated to communicate with their loved-ones, please visit https://doc.iowa.gov/families-during-covid19.