Lincoln – Prisons officials last Thursday announced all staff and visitors to the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services building in Lincoln will be required to now wear masks as officials seek to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The department said in a news release that staff members will be required to wear face masks while at work in the agency’s 10 prison facilities, its work skills program building in Lincoln and in all office buildings and warehouses. Also, contractors, vendors, Parole Board members, attorneys and other visitors must wear the masks being designed and manufactured by prisoners at Cornhusker State Industries.

In addition to the masks, anyone entering a state prison building will undergo an expanded screening process that includes answering questions pertaining to potential exposure to COVID-19.

A spokeswoman for the prisons system has not answered questions about whether staff or inmates were being tested for the virus.

– Associated Press