May 4: The outbreak at the prison grows and Tipton also records its first COVID-19 death

As Tipton County’s COVID-19 cases rise, the county also recorded its first COVID-19 death.

The Tennessee Department of Health will not release the identity of the patient who died, but The Leader has learned it is a man who was hospitalized in Memphis. He died on Sunday.

There is currently one COVID-positive patient hospitalized at Baptist-Tipton. TDH does not provide hospitalizations by county, however, so it is not known how many other Tipton Countians may be hospitalized in Memphis.

The outbreak at the prison has increased

Tipton County’s confirmed cases rose to 148 Monday after a surge from just over 100 to 146 Sunday.

Some of those cases are due to an outbreak at the West Tennessee Detention Facility in Mason. The 600-bed prison is owned by CoreCivic and houses federal inmates for the U.S. Marshals service.

The Leader has repeatedly asked for updates on the number of confirmed cases at the prison and officials with the U.S. Marshals have continuously said they had no new information to release.

Monday they said 79 inmates have tested positive and 46 of those have already recovered.

Gov. Bill Lee announced plans to test all Tennessee Department of Corrections inmates and staff members after outbreaks at prisons in Bledsoe, Lake and Trousdale counties. Though there is an outbreak at WTDF, its inmates are federal inmates and not subject to the state’s plan for mass testing.

CoreCivic and the Marshals have both confirmed to The Leader no plans for mass testing of employees or inmates.

There are currently approximately 550 inmates at WTDF, sources said.

---

What are the numbers today?

Confirmed cases: 148, which includes at least 79 inmate at the West Tennessee Detention Facility in Mason

Testing

Tipton Countians tested: 1,656+

Number negative: 1,508+

If you’d like to be tested, check out our list of testing sites.

Recovery and hospitalization

Number of Tipton Countians recovered: 56

Number hospitalized at Baptist-Tipton: 1; COVID-19 positive

With at least 148 confirmed cases and 56 reported recoveries, this means there are at least 92 active cases of COVID-19 in Tipton County.