Officials work to contain COVID outbreak at prison
CALIPATRIA – An official with the Imperial County Public Health Department said staff there have worked closely with Calipatria State Prison (CAL) staff to respond quickly to the recent discovery of several inmates who are positive for COVID-19.
ICPHD epidemiologist Paula Kriner said that upon receiving a positive test result for an inmate on July 10, Calipatria prison staff reached out to the Public Health Department to assist with testing all of the inmates in the unit who may have been exposed to the case.
The specimens were collected and delivered to the Public Health Department that day, Kriner said. On July 11, all of the 108 samples were tested, and 18 came back positive. As soon as the laboratory received a positive result for one of the inmates, the prison medical staff were notified so that they could isolate the newly identified cases, she said.
Dana Simas, press secretary for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said CAL implemented isolation protocols for those identified as positive, and placed others on a mandatory 14-day quarantine.
“The designated isolation unit has access to its own medical clinic and recreation yard,” Simas said. “No other incarcerated people come into contact with those in this designated unit.”
For those in the incarcerated population identified on mandatory 14-day quarantine status due to potential exposure to COVID-19, programs and movement have been limited, and they will be retested before they can return to normal program, she said.
Simas said CAL officials are working closely with Imperial County Public Health officials to increase availability of tests and timely results, and to conduct contact investigations to determine what, if any, potential exposure may have occurred to other incarcerated persons or staff. This coordination allows prison and healthcare officials to make rapidly informed decisions regarding housing, staffing, and treatment, she said.
CAL has an incarcerated population testing rate of 268 per 1,000, which is more than three times the state and national testing rates, Simas said. The prison total inmate population as of Sunday was 3,086.
As of Wednesday, there have been 51 cases among CAL employees, Simas said. Of those, 21 have returned to work. Every employee at CAL was set to be tested by the end of the week, she added.
“Since the global coronavirus pandemic hit our community, CDCR and CCHCS (California Correctional Health Care Services) have worked tirelessly to implement measures to protect staff, the incarcerated population, and the community at-large,” Simas said.
She said all state prisons have implemented a number of measures to respond to COVID-19, in accordance with guidelines from CDCR, CCHCS and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All housing and common areas are sanitized multiple times a day, and showers are cleaned after each use, she said. Officials are provided cleaning supplies to allow the incarcerated population to keep their living areas clean, and they have access to alcohol-based hand sanitizers.
Everyone who lives and works at CAL has been issued cloth barrier masks, and wearing them is mandatory, Simas said. Staff entering the prison are verbally screened and temperature-checked daily.
CAL is strictly enforcing physical distancing guidelines, she said. Programs have been modified to allow for phased use of dayrooms and dining schedules are staggered with areas cleaned after each use.