About half of the inmates at Stony Mountain Institution have tested positive for the virus. The 140-year-old building’s open bar set up makes containment nearly impossible, according to James Bloomfield, the prairie regional president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers. When it comes into the facility at that point, we are just trying to rapid test as fast as possible, said Bloomfield. We do have all that within the facility, so we can get the results back in half an hour, and we isolate and test everybody. The prison now has 340 cases among inmates, with 274 listed as recovered and 65 as active. On December 27, it is one of three federal institutions to record an inmate death due to the virus.
Author of the article: Ian MacAlpine
Publishing date: Dec 29, 2020 • December 29, 2020 • 1 minute read
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Positive cases of COVID-19 among inmates at Joyceville Institution’s medium-security unit have risen to 127, according to Correctional Service Canada’s COVID-19 dashboard on Tuesday.
That’s an increase of 47 cases from the original 80 cases announced on Dec. 17. Eighty-one inmates have recovered, leaving 46 active cases.
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Joyceville has the fourth-highest reported cases of COVID-19 among CSC institutions, and the most in Ontario. Collins Bay Institution has reported eight positive cases, with three cases currently active.
Dae Dash also confirmed that inmates are self-isolating in cells, but said they do have time out of their cells and access to things like showers and telephones. The health and safety of our employees, offenders and the public remains our top priority during this public health pandemic, said Dae Dash. We are working closely with our public health partners, unions, stakeholders and Elders, to make decisions based on science and implement measures with everyone s safety in mind.
According to Correctional Service Canada, 1,384 people inside Saskatchewan Penitentiary have now been tested for COVID-19.(Guy Quenneville/CBC)
Rapid testing
James Bloomfield, the prairie region president for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said that one of the main reasons case numbers have climbed so quickly is that staff are now doing rapid, asymptomatic testing within the prison population.
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.
Inmates say they get just 20 minutes out of their cells each day, and only allowed access to the showers and the phones. The situation is leading some to growing despair, with one inmate telling a loved one that some sentenced to life in prison are considering suicide. “All of us guys think we’re gonna die in here,” he said. “There are guys in here who are crying. They’re afraid they’re not going to go home to their families.” He said spending hours a day without time to participate in any activities or recreation is leaving him feeling “empty,” “lost” and “angry.”