COVID issues fuel tension at The Pas jail

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This article was published 26/10/2020 (1969 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The province says it has done “everything it can” to deal with a COVID-19 outbreak at Headingley Correctional Centre and cases popping up in other Manitoba jails.

Meanwhile, a “standoff” erupted between inmates and staff Monday at The Pas Correctional Centre, after inmates learned of a plan to create a COVID-19 isolation range at the jail, a source told the Free Press.

The source familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified, said inmates had temporarily barricaded staff from accessing part of the jail, upset about a proposed move to isolate suspected COVID-19 carriers in a general population area.

“They are like, ‘Don’t put them in with us, we don’t want to get sick. Where do we go?’” the source said.

As of Oct. 22, the western Manitoba jail had an inmate population of 129, nine over its rated capacity.

“If you are at capacity, you got no place else to put these guys,” the source said. “If you have ranges with 12 people in it, for example, and you are flipping one to a COVID range, you have no place for anyone else to go, unless you start double-bunking.”

A government spokesperson did not reply to a request for comment.

On Monday morning, Justice Minister Cliff Cullen held a news conference, along with the executive director of corrections and the doctor in charge of handling COVID-19 at the province’s jails, to reassure the public they’re taking care of inmates during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“We’ve done everything we can” across the justice system to prevent the spread of the virus, Cullen said at a briefing with Dr. Jazz Atwal and head of corrections Greg Skelly.

As of Monday morning, 34 inmates and 11 employees at provincial facilities had tested positive for COVID-19.

Headingley’s outbreak includes 33 inmates and six staff. Agassiz Youth Centre in Portage la Prairie has one inmate who has tested positive.

Both facilities have been declared critical “red” on the province’s pandemic response system, with visits and transfers cancelled. No cases at The Pas centre were noted at the news conference.

Other corrections employees infected include two at Milner Ridge, one at Winnipeg Remand Centre, one at Manitoba Youth Centre in Winnipeg, and one at Brandon Correctional Centre.

The Headingley outbreak began with a guard who developed symptoms on his days off, then tested positive for COVID-19, Atwal said.

While asymptomatic but infectious at work, the guard had an interaction with an inmate who became infected and spread the virus to other inmates, the doctor said. As soon as the guard tested positive, contacts in the prison were isolated and tested, he said.

“No one’s coming to work who’s sick, and anyone who gets sick at work is sent home right away,” Atwal said.

All guards are wearing face masks, but there are bound to be some mishaps, he said. “We’re all human… There are lapses, like when you touch your face when you shouldn’t.”

Across the province, approximately 470 inmates are in isolation, Cullen said.

The provincial bed capacity is 2,500, and there are less than 1,900 inmates currently in the system.

Cullen said symptomatic and asymptomatic isolation units are designated at all facilities. Inmates with COVID-19 are isolated for 14 days, unless otherwise directed by public health.

NDP justice critic Nahanni Fontaine challenged some of the government’s statements.

“I’ve spent the last eight days on the phone with families and with staff who are very concerned at what’s going on in our correctional facilities,” Fontaine told reporters.

When people are being isolated, they’re being held in what’s been called the “hole” — isolation units near the exterior of the building that are cold and “not conducive for folks who are sick,” said the NDP MLA.

Inmates are being returned from isolation to the general population without being retested for COVID-19, she said.

Fontaine told the house during question period eight inmates with symptoms were tested for COVID-19, then sent back into the dormitory-like general population before getting positive test results. Only then were they placed in isolation, she said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca