COVID-19 CONCERNS AT JAIL
Worker tests positive for virus
A Chatham-area man with a confirmed case of COVID-19 worked inside the South West Detention Centre in the days before he began self-isolating.
On Friday, Ministry of the Solicitor General spokeswoman Kristy Denette confirmed to the Star that an individual who was performing maintenance work at the SWDC has tested positive for COVID -19.
“Consultation with the local public health (unit) is ongoing to ensure appropriate steps to ensure the health and well-being of our staff and appropriate custody of inmates,” Denette told the Star via email.
Correctional facilities are inspected and “thoroughly cleaned daily and/or as required,” she said.
In a memo from the Ministry of the Solicitor General addressed to “all Southwest Detention Centre Staff” dated Thursday and obtained by the Star, the province said “an individual contractor performing work at SWDC, who is not an OPS (Ontario Public Service) employee, was directed by the Chatham-kent Public Health (CKPH) to self isolate after exhibiting symptoms similar to those of COVID-19.”
Denette confirmed the memo’s legitimacy to the Star on Friday.
That individual mentioned in the memo entered self-isolation and was ordered for testing on March 14, the document said. On March 18, the ministry was notified the contractor had a presumed positive case of the virus.
“CKPH may contact anyone with whom the contractor may have interacted on March 12 and March 13 at SWDC,” the memo said. It advises anyone contacted by the public health organization to notify a manager “immediately.” Staff are also asked to self-monitor and tell jail management if they start to exhibit symptoms.
“It is important to note the contractor is not involved in inmate care and the individual did not experience symptoms while at work. The contractor remains in self-isolation and is following protocols recommended by health authorities.”
The ministry memo said all work areas the contractor came into contact with “have been thoroughly cleaned and, moving forward, deep cleaning protocols have been updated and are in place at SWDC.”
Message recipients were also encouraged to wash their hands, sneeze and cough into their sleeves, avoid touching their eyes, nose, or mouth, avoid contact with people who are sick, and to stay home if they are ill.
The two-page memo is signed by Suzanne Mcgurn, the assistant deputy minister of the ministry of the solicitor general’s institutional services division.
Although some jail staff refused to work Thursday in light of coronavirus concerns, inspectors with the Ministry of Labour determined their complaints did not meet the requirements for a work refusal under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
That’s according to ministry spokeswoman Janet Deline, who told the Star on Friday the investigation is now closed.
Jason Stroud, president of OPSEU Local 135, which represents the jail’s unionized employees, told the Star Thursday that “numerous” staff at the South West Detention Centre had refused to work because of worries over the spread of the coronavirus. Stroud did not respond to request for comment Friday.
Solicitor General Sylvia Jones and deputy premier Christine Elliott on Friday announced regulatory changes at Ontario’s adult correctional facilities as a “precautionary
response” in a joint statement.
The province will now allow senior corrections officials to expand the use of temporary absences from custody for intermittent inmates who serve time on weekends across Ontario. The purpose of the change is to avoid cycling individuals back and forth between the community and correctional facilities.
Inmates nearing the end of their sentence may also be released early after being “carefully assessed to ensure they are a low risk to reoffend,” the statement said. Inmates who have been convicted of “serious crimes” — violent crimes, crimes involving guns — would not be considered for early release.
The Ontario Parole Board will now be able to conduct hearings by electronic or written means, rather than solely in person.
On March 13, Jones and Elliott announced a temporary halt on inmates receiving personal visitors.
A guard at the Toronto South Detention Centre has reportedly tested positive for COVID-19, but returned to work after travelling to Europe and before health officials advised travellers to self-isolate for two weeks.