Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, right, prepares to get her blood drown by phlebotomist Jasmine Robles during a COVID-19 antibodies test at Sparrow Hospital's testing site at the former Sears Auto Center in the Frandor shopping center on Thursday, May 21, 2020, in Lansing. In addition to the antibodies test, Gov. Whitmer also received a nasal swab COVID-19 test.
Lansing – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (click here) signed an executive order Saturday requiring jails and prisons to test inmates for COVID-19 when they enter, transfer from or are released from their facilities.
The order also requires jails to adopt testing protocols comparable to those at the Michigan Department of Corrections before they can transfer prisoners to state facilities.
“By reducing the spread of COVID-19 in prisons and jails, we protect corrections officers and their families, incarcerated people, and the whole community,” Whitmer said.
Jails that have already resumed transfers to state facilities under a prior executive order have until Sept. 8 to comply, Whitmer's office said in a news release. The state will provide support for testing by jails through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, it said.
The order was issued as the Department of Corrections deals with 435 active COVID-19 cases, its largest spike since the spring. Most of those cases are in the Muskegon Correctional Facility, where an outbreak began three weeks ago.
