Our partners at the Bangor Daily News, Portland Press Herald and Kennebec Journal are reporting significant COVID-19 outbreaks at state and county correctional facilities.

Public health officials are already dealing with record numbers of new cases of COVID-19 among the general public, and figures from the facilities show the disease is spreading in Maine jails, too.

The Kennebec Journal reported 32 positive tests at the Kennebec County Correctional Facility in Augusta. Twenty inmates and 12 staff members have been infected. 

The Press Herald, citing Cumberland County Jail Administrator Timothy Kortes, reported 15 people had active infections and as many as 65 had recovered from the virus. Recent staff testing results were all negative, Kortes told the paper.

The Bangor Daily News reported Wednesday that 21 residents tested positive for COVID-19 at the Maine State Prison.

Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Nirav Shah told reporters this week that daily case totals would likely remain high for the foreseeable future. On Thursday, the daily total of new cases was 1,460, the highest single-day total since the pandemic began in March 2020.