Over 500 people took advantage of a five-day COVID-19 testing site in Carbon, officials say.

On Thursday, Carbon County Commissioner Rocky Ahner provided a report on the testing site at Beltzville State Park, which was available Jan. 20-24.

He said a total of 583 people were tested over the five-day period.

The Department of Health has been setting up the testing clinics in each county over the last several weeks.

The department said previously it believed that increased testing in the counties will assist in determining the prevalence of the virus and assist the county in moving forward.

COVID cases in the county

Ahner also provided an update on COVID-19 cases within the county departments.

As of Thursday, the county has had 79 employees who have tested positive over the last year. Of that, 25 of those cases were in 2021 alone, Ahner said.

Twenty-one of those new cases have returned to work and the remaining four will be returning next week.

Ahner said that there are also six employees who are out with pending results or are quarantined.

The county prison had also seen a significant spike in cases last month, with 76 inmates testing positive.

On Thursday, Ahner said the prison doctor said that as of Jan. 27, the prison population was no longer contagious and staff can end the quarantine.

He noted that all other suspensions, such as the work-release program, fingerprinting and weekend sentences remain in effect and testing at the facility is ongoing.