Health officials say nearly six dozen inmates at the Troup County Jail have tested positive for COVID-19 as the virus continues to spread in rural Georgia.
The Department of Public Health in LaGrange on Wednesday said 71 inmates and two employees of the jail had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
In total, 48 staffers and 316 inmates were tested for the virus, officials said.
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The results, which were returned Friday, come as the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has more than doubled in Troup.
The LaGrange area is experiencing the fourth-highest growth of cases in the nation, based on its number of illnesses per 1,000 residents over the past two weeks, according to analysis by the New York Times.
Fourteen people died of COVID-19 after it spread through the LaGrange Health and Rehab nursing home, and 86 residents and employees tested positive for the disease, AJC.com previously reported. As of Wednesday, the Georgia DPH confirmed 1,158 cases of COVID-19 and 29 deaths related to the virus in Troup.
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