BAKER CITY â The Powder River Correctional Facility in Baker City has had 18 inmates test positive for COVID-19.
The minimum-security prison, which houses about 320 inmates, had until earlier this month avoided the virus among the inmate population.
Powder River reported its first positive test of an inmate on Dec. 13, Debi Geddes, the prisonâs correctional rehabilitation manager/administrative services manager, wrote in an email to the
Baker City Herald.
Two employees also tested positive recently. Those cases were reported on Dec. 20.
That also was the day with the largest number of positive tests among inmates, with six.
In a September interview, Powder River Superintendent Tom McLay said all inmates who are scheduled to be transferred to another prison or released in their home county are tested prior to the move.