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DOC: Nearly half of Conn. prison population tests positive for COVID-19

Since March, 380 of the agency’s 6,000 staff members have tested positive for the novel coronavirus

By John Penney
Norwich Bulletin

BROOKLYN, Conn. — Nearly half of those incarcerated at a Brooklyn-based prison tested positive for the coronavirus, according to newly released state Department of Correction mass testing figures.

The testing, the first such mass initiative undertaken by the department, began on May 13 at the Osborn Correctional Institution in Somers and concluded Thursday at the Newtown’s Garner Correctional Institution. The testing yielded 832 positive cases — or a rate of 9% — among the 9,504 prisoners tested in 14 facilities, including those in Uncasville and Brooklyn.

At the Brooklyn Correctional Institution in Brooklyn, 132, or 45%, of the 295 prisoners tested, received a positive result – the highest positive rate of all 14 state correctional facilities. Despite 100% of all the prison’s inmates opting to be tested, the Brooklyn facility’s population resulted in third-lowest number tested when compared all the state’s prisons.

At Uncasville’s Corrigan-Radgoswski Correctional Institution, 152, or 16%, of the facility’s 960 prison population tested postive. Like in Brooklyn, all of Corrigan’s inmates opted to be tested.

Health officials said the positive case numbers reported by the DOC are being folded into the state Department of Public Health’s tracking system and added to the towns where prisons are located.

For example, the state on Monday reported there were 126 cases of COVID-19 in the Town of Brooklyn and 290 in the Town of Montville. But those figures include the DOC cases at the Brooklyn and Corrigan correctional institutions and don’t accurately reflect the virus picture in the general, non-incarcerated public.

The 20-case difference in Brooklyn’s numbers is likely due to a delay in case updates between the two state agencies, officials said.

Sue Starkey, director of health for the Northeast District Department of Health, said the state is exploring a way to aggregate the prison and town case numbers to give residents a clearer sense of what’s going on in their communities.

“Usually, you want to separate cases involving places like prisons or nursing homes from the rest of the population to give people a better picture of their relative risk,” she said.

Starkey said residents can take some valuable lessons from the prison case numbers.

“What you see in a prison, with its close, cramped quarters, is the same thing that can happen among families,” she said. “That’s why everyone needs to take steps to protect themselves and others so you’re not taking this back home with you”

No prisoners at York Correctional Institution in Niantic, the state’s female-only correctional facility, nor at the Manson Youth Institution in Cheshire, have tested positive.

The latest numbers did not include the 510 prisoners who contracted the virus before the mass testing began, officials said.

All but two of those who took part in the mass testing were asymptotic and remained so throughout a 14-day isolation and monitoring period.

Department officials said the number of inmates who opted to be tested was in the “high 90s,” but did not include the Osborn facility. Agency healthcare staff will be re-offering tests to the roughly 440 prisoners who previously opted out of testing. The department is aiming for a 90% overall facility compliance rate for the tests.

Out of approximately 10,000 incarcerated individuals, three are still recuperating from coronavirus-related symptoms.

As of Monday, 593 correctional officers have been tested for the novel coronavirus, with all but one result coming back negative, the department said. Mass testing of department staff is ongoing.

Since March, 380 of agency’s 6,000 staff members have tested positive for the virus with all but three returning to work. Those three are expected to be back on the job in the coming weeks, officials said. It has been a month since a staffer has tested positive.

But the department expects its testing numbers to jump “dramatically” soon with the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition entering into an agreement with the state’s Office of Labor Relations to mandate Covid-19 testing of all DOC staff members who have direct contact with the offender population.

The test results were released as the number of prisoners in state facilities continues to drop. Officials said the number of incarcerated individuals will drop below half its February 2008 all-time high number of 19,894 “within the next few days.”

The department’s inmate population decreased by 2,400 since March 1, a dip officials attribute to the “responsible discretionary” release of eligible offenders.

“Having spent more than 30 years with the Department of Correction, I was here when the population ballooned and now I am seeing it shrink like never before. In short, I have learned to expect the unexpected,” DOC Interim Commissioner Angel Quiros said in a press release. “As we continue to manage and prepare for future obstacles related to the Covid-19 pandemic, one thing that I am certain of is the ability of the agency’s amazing staff to adapt to, and overcome any future challenges.”

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©2020 Norwich Bulletin, Conn.

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