The 517 inmates who tested positive at the Arizona State Prison Complex Tucson Whetstone Unit make up nearly half up the unit's 1,066 population.
They've been housed together in separate areas and are receiving medical care, according to a statement released by the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, AZ Central reports.
The new cases are a 72 per cent jump in the department's identified coronavirus cases.
Previously, the department reported that there were 890 inmates statewide who had tested positive with coronavirus.
Those who tested positive at the Whetstone Unit will not be allowed to return to the general population until they are cleared, according to the statement
