Outbreak among inmates at local jail mismanaged: union

The union representing Alberta jail workers says the COVID-19 outbreak at the Calgary Correctional Centre has been badly mismanaged, with basic public-health measures neglected even as cases spread.

There are now 132 cases at the jail, on Calgary's northwest outskirts. But Bobby-joe Borodey, a vice-president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, said the outbreak could have been mitigated with more clear direction and better adherence to health measures.

“It's a nightmare, to say the very least,” Borodey said. “The space and capacity of the facility does not allow for proper isolation, like you would see at a hospital or what you would expect if you were to go to a medical facility.”

A total of 112 inmates have now been infected with COVID-19, nearly 60 per cent of the 175 who were incarcerated as of Oct. 23, when the outbreak began. The province said all of those inmates are being isolated in the jail, except for eight who were released after having completed their court-mandated sentences. The remaining 20 cases are in staff members.

The outbreak spread quickly within the jail, with case counts nearly doubling between the first and second days infections were made public. Infection rates exploded again this week after all inmates who previously had tested negative were reswabbed.

Borodey alleged that symptomatic inmates awaiting test results were allowed to mingle with their asymptomatic peers, something she said could have fuelled the rapid spread.

“It essentially became a case where you had Covid-positive and Covid-negative individuals occupying the same space as they were waiting for their test results,” she said.

As well, Borodey said inmates had not been required to wear masks until “approximately a week ago,” after spread had started. Meanwhile, she said workers have only been wearing masks for about a month and were only instructed to wear full personal protective equipment Thursday.

The Alberta Justice and Solicitor General's office did not respond to a request from Postmedia to confirm the allegations from AUPE.

Instead, they sent a statement detailing measures that had been taken to mitigate COVID-19 spread at Alberta correctional facilities.

“Many COVID-19 infectious disease protocols and safeguards were put in place in early March, and remain in place, in partnership with Alberta Health Services,” the statement read. “These proactive measures helped prevent the entry and spread of COVID-19 in our facilities for many months.”

The province has said transmission has occurred within the facility, with movement between jail units suspended as well as admissions and transfers in or out of the jail.

Borodey said the provincial government shouldn't accept two different standards when addressing an outbreak in a jail versus one in a hospital.

“Regardless of the facility that we are working with, we are working with people, and the No. 1 pri

The space and capacity of the facility does not allow for proper isolation, like you would see at a hospital.

ority for those people is to keep them safe and healthy during this pandemic,” she said.

“It doesn't matter if they're in a hospital or if they're in a correctional facility.”

Workers at the facility are “terrified and exhausted” as a result of the outbreak, Borodey said. She said the province needs to appoint third-party experts to review the outbreak in the prison and recommend measures to mitigate future spread as much as possible.

Last week, AHS ordered workers at the jail to only travel to and from the Calgary Correctional Centre, making no other public trips. The province said if any replacement workers were required at the facility, they would also be subject to the same order.

COVID-19 cases have been confirmed at a number of Alberta correctional facilities, but the Calgary Correctional Centre has had the most severe outbreak.

At the Edmonton Remand Centre, 15 inmates and seven staff have been infected, while nine cases were confirmed at the Calgary Remand Centre.