The latest news is that inmates will continue to be tested on a regular basis until a vaccine is given.
What they attempting to do is give “pooled” testing, which is a lot cheaper, and therefore appeals to the DOC (the cheapskates). Pooled testing goes like this, instead of one test per person, 4 people are pooled together and tested as a “batch”, saving reagents and supplies. When that batch comes back positive, then they have to test each one individually to find which one of the four is positive. This method was approved by the FDA on July 18th, to facilitate faster results in groups like rest homes and prisons.
The DOC is also addressing an action plan to make sure no inmate is released that tested positive. That’s a potential problem because it’s illegal to keep an inmate beyond their release date.