Toronto jail awaits results of hospitalized guard’s test

Amale correctional officer at the Toronto South Detention Centre is in hospital and the jail is on lockdown ahead of the results of his test for COVID-19.

Warren (Smokey) Thomas, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, told the Star the man’s employer did not yet have his test results, but three other Toronto South jail workers are home under self-isolation.

The officer works in “an isolated area” at the jail, which has a capacity of more than 1,600 inmates, and “does not have close contact with inmates,” Thomas said.

Chad Oldfield, a corrections rep with the union, told the Star he believed the officer had recently returned from a trip abroad.

However, it was not immediately clear when the man returned to Canada, or how long he had been at the jail since.

“There’s conflicting information,” Oldfield said. “We’re still waiting for public health to investigate.”

In a statement Friday afternoon, the Ministry of Solicitor General, which oversees provincial jails, said it would not be commenting on the officer’s health, out of respect for his privacy. “The ministry has been in contact with the local public health unit in response to COVID-19 to ensure the continued health and wellbeing of our staff and those in our custody,” the statement said.

Also Friday, the Ontario government announced new steps to reduce jail populations and slow the cycling in and out of inmates during the pandemic.

In a statement, Minister of Health Christine Elliott and Solicitor General Sylvia Jones announced amendments to regulations that will “allow senior corrections officials to expand the use of temporary absences and for the Ontario Parole Board to use alternatives to inperson meetings.”