No state prisoners have tested positive for the coronavirus as yet, and the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections on Monday announced changes that are intended to keep its jails virus-free.

For starters, starting on Saturday the state prison at Retreat will temporarily become be the new intake site for all newly committed prisoners and parole violators, Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said.

That announcement comes just two months after state officials announced they were closing Retreat, a 350-bed medium security lockup near Wilkes-Barre, to save about $40 million annually due to a decline in statewide inmate numbers. Retreat has the smallest number of beds of any of the state’s prisons. Some of its buildings date to the 1800s.

The use of Retreat as the sole intake facility – with a boosted medical staff – “will reduce the number of ways individuals enter our system,” Wetzel said. “With this plan, moving forward, only one facility will be involved, greatly reducing the ways the virus can enter our system.”

New prisoners will be quarantined at Retreat - which had been scheduled for closure this summer - before being sent to the Camp Hill prison for classification and evaluation, he said. On average, about 150 new inmates or parole violators are processed into the state prison system weekly.

Meanwhile, Wetzel said commitments of new prisoners are bring paused for several days as the new intake system is ramped up. Those measures include transferring some inmates out of Retreat to make room for the newcomers. Prison staff at Retreat will be equipped with safety gear to shield them from the virus, Wetzel said.

New female prisoners will still be accepted at the prisons at Muncy and Cambridge Springs, although Muncy will be accepting new commitments only on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Wetzel said other steps his department is taking to reduce the inmate population and the risk of coronavirus exposure include:

• Working with the parole board to maximize releases

• Reviewing parole detainers for individuals in county jails and state prisons

• Expediting the release process for anyone with a pending home plan

• Reviewing inmates within the state prison system who are beyond their minimum sentences

• Reducing the number of reentrants in halfway houses

• Giving each inmate released a medical screening and referring to doctors when appropriate.

“We are doing all we can to mitigate the impact this virus will have on our system,” Wetzel said. “All ideas are being considered.”