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Immigration and Customs Enforcement has confirmed 36 COVID-19 cases at adult detention facilities in Texas, up from just a handful of cases late last week.
The majority of those cases were at a detention center in Alvarado, outside Dallas, where 28 detainees tested positive for the coronavirus.
Five cases have also been confirmed at a detention facility in El Paso.
In the Houston area, two detainees tested positive at the Montgomery Processing Center. Another COVID-19 case was confirmed last week at the ICE detention center in Livingston.
At least 253 ICE detainees have contracted the virus nationwide, as of Wednesday morning.
Texas Health and Human Services has also confirmed that five unaccompanied migrant children have the coronavirus, but didn't specify where those cases were identified.
Migrant minors tested positive within two different Texas facilities, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The infected migrants are all under quarantine.
Earlier this month, seven staff members at the BCFS shelter in Baytown tested positive for COVID-19. BCFS said it hasn’t seen any other cases at that shelter.
At least five staff, including multiple guards, at immigrant detention centers in Texas have also tested positive for COVID-19.
Four tested positive at the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, according to GeoGroup. One person at the Houston Contract Facility in north Houston also tested positive for the coronavirus.