National Guard To Assist Department Of Corrections In Testing UP Prisoners For COVID-19

Starting today at the Baraga Correctional Facility, Michigan’s National Guard will assist the Department of Corrections, in testing every prisoner in the facility for COVID-19.

The National Guard will then move eastward across the U.P., with the goal of testing one facility per day.

Major General Paul Rogers, Director of Military and Veterans Affairs, said “We are community members and neighbors, and we’re always ready to assist in the fight against COVID-19.”

Once completed, approximately 7,500 prisoners in the U.P. Correctional facilities will have been tested.

Once the samples are collected, they will be sent to a lab for testing, with results coming back within 48 hours.

David Jahn, President and CEO of War Memorial Hospital in Sault Ste. Marie, said he was appreciative of the efforts to test all the prisoners, in the Upper Peninsula.