Nearly 30% of Ontario inmates are in isolation
Nearly 30 per cent of Ontario jail inmates are in “medical isolation” because they have or could have COVID-19, and more than half the jails have active outbreaks — an indication of how rapidly COVID-19 is spreading through correctional facilities, according to the most recent information from the province.
That number, along with the case count, has doubled in the past week as the number of adult jails in active outbreak increased from nine to 15 of 25. As of last week, there were at least 164 staff cases.
Criminologist Justin Piché, who tracks COVID-19 cases in correctional facilities, calculates that 20 per cent of all cases in Ontario jails during the pandemic have been reported in the first two weeks of January.
Piché, who has been advocating for the jail population to be reduced and improved safety measures since the start of the pandemic, says the latest numbers are especially alarming.
“The government needs to act because the status quo is undermining public health and community safety,” he said.
As of Wednesday, there were 1,961 inmates in medical isolation, up from 1,041 on Jan. 5. Ontario’s jail population was 7,164 as of Jan. 6, according to an information note released by the Ministry of the Solicitor-General.
Medical isolation, according to the ministry, means the inmate is “placed under droplet precautions and isolated from the rest of the inmate population while they receive appropriate medical care.”
Time out of the cell is highly restricted, although inmates should still have access to showers, yard time and phone calls. Although the guidelines say inmates should be placed in single cells for medical isolation, that becomes less likely with the increase in cases requiring it.
The highest current case count is at the Thunder Bay jail, which faced a serious outbreak last year that resulted in more than 200 cases in inmates and staff, as well as public health warnings about community spread. As of Jan. 12, there were 75 inmate cases at the Thunder Bay Jail and at least 30 staff cases have been reported by the local union.