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43 inmates test positive for COVID-19 at TB Correctional Centre
Correctional officers have yet to be tested, but are expected to be tested on Friday, if not sooner.
Jan 21, 2021 10:46 AM By: Leith Dunick
Updated
President of OSPEU 727 Thunder Bay Correctional Centre Shawn Bradshaw says a potential new, larger jail could provide much-needed services for inmates.
THUNDER BAY – The head of the union representing workers at the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre has confirmed 43 inmates have tested positive at the facility.
“As of right now, it’s all inmates,” said Shawn Bradshaw, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 708.
Bradshaw said it’s deeply concerning.
Photo-unsplash.com
The focus of the COVID-19 situation in the district remains on the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre.
The Thunder Bay District Health Unit reports 56 coronavirus cases today, 43 of those come from the outbreak at the Centre, with eight at the District Jail.
Shawn Bradshaw represents the union at the centre and tells us they are working with the health unit to get the situation under control
“They’ve made recommendations we’re implementing as many as we can…extra living space..isolating and separating inmates who have symptoms,” says the representative for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.
It brings to 128 the number of active cases in the region.
Posted: Jan 20, 2021 7:00 AM ET | Last Updated: January 20
The Thunder Bay District Jail is battling an outbreak of COVID-19 since the beginning of January, after one inmate tested positive for the disease. Twenty inmates and four staff had been infected, as of Jan. 19.(Marc Doucette / CBC)
In March 2020, before the full implications of the COVID-19 pandemic could have even been imagined, Ontario s Solicitor General acted quickly to reduce the number of inmates held in the province s correctional facilities.
They granted temporary absences from custody to some people, expanded the number of people released on bail and let others out early if they were near the end of their sentence.
The Thunder Bay District Jail remains on lockdown due to a COVID-19 outbreak among inmates there, but the facility is still being required to accept new inmates as it's the only remand centre in the region.