TACOMA, Wash. — Officials have confirmed the first positive COVID-19 test at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.
The person who tested positive is a detainee who had previously tested positive at another detention center and was being medically screened on arrival at the immigration jail.
The development came just as immigrant rights advocates were going to court again in an attempt to free medically vulnerable detainees before any outbreak there.
In a court filing in a separate case Friday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said a detainee tested positive during a medical intake screening.
The detainee, it said, would remain physically segregated for two weeks, even though he has recovered and is no longer infectious, according to the Pierce County Health Department.
The news comes just as immigrant rights advocates are back in court arguing to release about 100 medically vulnerable detainees, in case of outbreaks.