Coronavirus outbreaks at Massachusetts jail, substance abuse center lead to calls for more testing
Two recent coronavirus clusters at a Massachusetts jail and a substance abuse center are sparking calls for aggressive virus testing and fewer inmates at Bay State jails and prisons.
The Middleton House of Correction reported 139 infected inmates in the last week. Another 29 positive patients were reported at the Massachusetts Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center in Plymouth.
The head of the Committee for Public Counsel Services on Wednesday said these outbreaks are the “unfortunate and foreseeable product of three issues: a lack of testing, too few people being released and an uptick in the number of people being held pretrial.”
“We are demanding that every incarcerated person in the commonwealth be tested for coronavirus, and we demand that this testing take place on a regular basis,” CPCS Chief Counsel Anthony Benedetti said in a statement. “We also need to cut down on the number of people being held. The pandemic is not over, and it is irresponsible and unconstitutional to take a business-as-usual approach to incarceration.”
Because of the rapid spread in the Middleton Jail, the state Department of Public Health recommended mandatory testing for all inmates and employees at the facility. In addition to the 139 positive inmate cases, 33 employees tested positive.
More than 72% of the cases have been asymptomatic, while the others experienced mild symptoms. No one has been hospitalized, said Essex Sheriff Kevin Coppinger.
He said the department has been following CDC protocols “from day one.” The guidance has been to test symptomatic patients, Coppinger added.
“We monitor everyone closely,” he said. “Our medical staff is checking every day, and our officers are trained to look for signs and symptoms.”
The Middlesex Sheriff’s Office has been following every directive from DPH and their infectious disease physician, said Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian.
“In fact, in April I inquired with our infectious disease physician and DPH about universal testing in our facility and the recommendation was not to do so,” Koutoujian said. “Should that guidance change, we would follow those new directives.”
MASAC in Plymouth, managed by the Department of Correction, tested all patients and staff at the facility in late September. The 29 positive patients were moved to a separate wing in the facility, and none required hospital care.
“DOC continues strategic testing department-wide consistent with DPH guidance to ensure that any new cases are identified rapidly and transmission is minimized to the greatest extent possible,” a DOC spokesman said in a statement.
The DOC population during the pandemic has dropped from 7,735 in April to 6,830 now.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/36I9iuE
Post a Comment