COVID IN PRISON
138 Sask. Pen inmates, staff positive for COVID-19, CSC says
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© Don Healy The Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Prince Albert
A COVID-19 outbreak at Saskatchewan Penitentiary has grown to 138 cases among staff and inmates.
As of Tuesday, 123 inmates and 12 staff had tested positive at the penitentiary’s medium-security unit and there were three reported cases in the maximum-security unit, according to a statement from the Correctional Service of Canada.
Nine of the inmates in medium security have recovered and the remainder are considered active.
The first case at the prison was identified on Dec. 12 in the medium-security unit. The Saskatchewan Health Authority subsequently declared an outbreak there and the Canadian Red Cross is now on site advising staff, according to the CSC.
The SHA issued a public health order to all staff at the institution on Dec. 20, asking staff to avoid mixing with others — including people in their own homes — and advising them not to stop anywhere on their way to and from work. The letter stated the order was to continue until at least Dec. 27.
“Obviously when you get an order like that a few days before Christmas, everybody gets extremely upset and tries to figure out what the hell happened,” said James Bloomfield, the Prairie regional president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, which represents officers at federal institutions.
Bloomfield said similar letters have not been sent to staff at other federal institutions, including Stony Mountain in Manitoba, where more than 250 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 and nearly 80 cases are active. He said the union wants to know what aspect of the outbreak at Saskatchewan Penitentiary triggered the letter.
Correctional staff also want clarity on whether the letter is an order or a recommendation, since the wording of different parts of the letter implies both, Bloomfield said.
“At this point, it’s being viewed and assessed as an order.”
The CSC says mass testing is being offered to all staff and all inmates in the maximum-, medium- and minimum-security units, including asymptomatic people. Contact tracing is underway for those who have tested positive.
How the virus got into the institution has not been determined. Transfers between provincial and federal institutions continue despite the pandemic; Bloomfield said he wonders if the provincial transfers in particular could be a contributing factor.
The SHA has declared COVID-19 outbreaks at the jails in Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert .
In an effort to curtail the spread of the virus, only one inmate at a time is allowed out on each range; inmates can’t borrow books from the prison library, and in-person personal visits are suspended.
Advocates such as Sherri Maier with Beyond Prison Walls Canada are expressing concern about the extended period of time inmates are confined to their cells.
In a letter to the Office of the Correctional Investigator, she described the situation as “inhumane and deteriorating their mental health.”
She said inmates are asking to be let out of their cells four to six at a time, instead of one at a time.
Maier has written to the ombudsman for federal inmates, asking for an investigation.
“Sask Pen should have been proactive, they saw places like Mission (Institution in British Columbia) get hit with covid and that should been their wake up call to do something and be proactive,” she wrote.
Maier suggests the CSC request help from the local fire department, paramedics and the military and is calling for the federal investigator to look into sanitation measures in the units. She said she’s been told by inmates in one unit of Saskatchewan Penitentiary that garbage is piling up outside their cells because there’s no cleaner to take it out.
According to the CSC, with only one inmate allowed out on a range at a time, cleaners are working in the morning, which means garbage is accumulated on ranges in order for large batches to go directly to a garbage truck, based on a Canadian Red Cross recommendation. The goal is to prevent a clean area from being “contaminated” by range garbage, the CSC says.
Contractors have been hired for “enhanced” cleaning, and cleaning supplies and products are “readily available” for inmates in each unit, including sanitizing wipes for high-touch surfaces such as shower handles and telephones, the CSC said.
About 705 employees work at the penitentiary, which has close to 750 inmates. As of Dec. 23, there were 473 inmates in medium security, 139 in maximum security and 109 in
As of Tuesday, 123 inmates and 12 staff had tested positive at the penitentiary’s medium-security unit and there were three reported cases in the maximum-security unit, according to a statement from the Correctional Service of Canada.
Nine of the inmates in medium security have recovered and the remainder are considered active.
The first case at the prison was identified on Dec. 12 in the medium-security unit. The Saskatchewan Health Authority subsequently declared an outbreak there and the Canadian Red Cross is now on site advising staff, according to the CSC.
The SHA issued a public health order to all staff at the institution on Dec. 20, asking staff to avoid mixing with others — including people in their own homes — and advising them not to stop anywhere on their way to and from work. The letter stated the order was to continue until at least Dec. 27.
“Obviously when you get an order like that a few days before Christmas, everybody gets extremely upset and tries to figure out what the hell happened,” said James Bloomfield, the Prairie regional president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, which represents officers at federal institutions.
Bloomfield said similar letters have not been sent to staff at other federal institutions, including Stony Mountain in Manitoba, where more than 250 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 and nearly 80 cases are active. He said the union wants to know what aspect of the outbreak at Saskatchewan Penitentiary triggered the letter.
Correctional staff also want clarity on whether the letter is an order or a recommendation, since the wording of different parts of the letter implies both, Bloomfield said.
“At this point, it’s being viewed and assessed as an order.”
The CSC says mass testing is being offered to all staff and all inmates in the maximum-, medium- and minimum-security units, including asymptomatic people. Contact tracing is underway for those who have tested positive.
How the virus got into the institution has not been determined. Transfers between provincial and federal institutions continue despite the pandemic; Bloomfield said he wonders if the provincial transfers in particular could be a contributing factor.
The SHA has declared COVID-19 outbreaks at the jails in Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert .
In an effort to curtail the spread of the virus, only one inmate at a time is allowed out on each range; inmates can’t borrow books from the prison library, and in-person personal visits are suspended.
Advocates such as Sherri Maier with Beyond Prison Walls Canada are expressing concern about the extended period of time inmates are confined to their cells.
In a letter to the Office of the Correctional Investigator, she described the situation as “inhumane and deteriorating their mental health.”
She said inmates are asking to be let out of their cells four to six at a time, instead of one at a time.
Maier has written to the ombudsman for federal inmates, asking for an investigation.
“Sask Pen should have been proactive, they saw places like Mission (Institution in British Columbia) get hit with covid and that should been their wake up call to do something and be proactive,” she wrote.
Maier suggests the CSC request help from the local fire department, paramedics and the military and is calling for the federal investigator to look into sanitation measures in the units. She said she’s been told by inmates in one unit of Saskatchewan Penitentiary that garbage is piling up outside their cells because there’s no cleaner to take it out.
According to the CSC, with only one inmate allowed out on a range at a time, cleaners are working in the morning, which means garbage is accumulated on ranges in order for large batches to go directly to a garbage truck, based on a Canadian Red Cross recommendation. The goal is to prevent a clean area from being “contaminated” by range garbage, the CSC says.
Contractors have been hired for “enhanced” cleaning, and cleaning supplies and products are “readily available” for inmates in each unit, including sanitizing wipes for high-touch surfaces such as shower handles and telephones, the CSC said.
About 705 employees work at the penitentiary, which has close to 750 inmates. As of Dec. 23, there were 473 inmates in medium security, 139 in maximum security and 109 in
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