A Montgomery County inmate with underlying health conditions is the first person in the state’s prison system to test positive for the coronavirus.

Sunday afternoon, Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel announced the positive COVID-19 test at the 3,830-bed State Correctional Institute Phoenix in Skippack Township, Montgomery County.

“The inmate is in the prison’s infirmary and is isolated from other inmates," Wetzel said in a news release.

The facility opened in 2018 on the property of SCI Graterford, replacing the aging prison with a state-of-the art jail equipped with special isolation rooms in its infirmary to handle such cases, the release states.

Inmates on the impacted housing unit are now under quarantine, according to the state. Both staff and inmates have been provided with the appropriate personal protective equipment, which they’ve been instructed to wear on the unit, the release states.

Comedian and actor Bill Cosby, 82, is currently serving a sentence of three to 10 years for sexual assault at SCI Phoenix. Cosby’s representatives released a statement March 25 indicating his attorneys may file a motion asking for him to be released on house arrest

“Mr. Cosby is elderly and blind -- and always needs to be escorted around the prison by support service inmates, known as Certified Peer Specialists (CPI),” according to the statement on his social media. “Those inmates could fall victim to the coronavirus and easily spread the disease to Mr. Cosby as they wheel him around in a wheelchair. Among their duties, the inmates bring Mr. Cosby to the infirmary for his doctor appointments and clean his cell.”

Prison officials have traced this inmate’s interactions with other inmates and employees and are isolating inmates to a separate housing unit. Employees who had contact are being monitored for symptoms.

Increased cleaning throughout the prison, including common areas and inmate cells, continues to take place.

Officials continue to work closely with the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

As of Sunday, Pennsylvania now has 3,394 positive cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in 58 of the state’s 67 counties and 38 deaths. Suburban Philadelphia’s Montgomery County, where the prison is located, is one of the hardest hit areas of the state with 488 cases and five deaths.

It is unclear if the inmate was recently incarcerated at the prison or how they contracted the virus.

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Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. If there’s anything about this story that needs attention, please email her. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.