SCI Forest’s coronavirus data spikes

From staff reports

The state Department of Health on Wednesday reported an increase of 141 cases in Forest County.

However, according to data reported on the state Department of Corrections COVID-19 dashboard, inmate cases at SCI Forest, just outside of Marienville, jumped from just 29 active cases on Monday to 171 active cases on Wednesday.

Because prison inmates are considered residents of the county, numbers collected from the institution are included in Forest County’s data reported daily by the state Department of Health.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, cases at the prison have accounted for 201 positive cases and three deaths in the county that have been reported by the state.

Dashboard data also shows there currently are 394 COVID-19 tests taken from inmates of the prison that are pending results.

The prison has collected 1,008 tests thus far, according to the dashboard.

Phone calls and emails sent to both the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association for further information on the large increase in cases were not answered by late Wednesday afternoon.