Kansas prison locks down after nearly 100 people test positive for COVID-19 this week
The Hutchinson Correctional Facility went into lockdown Wednesday after nearly 100 inmates and staff members tested positive for the coronavirus.
According to a Kansas Department of Corrections news release, 84 inmates and 10 staff members at the Hutchinson prison tested positive for the virus this week. Ten other residents were already infected with the virus. Thirteen more residents and staff members have recovered.
All the cases, the release said, are asymptomatic. The prison houses 1,884 men.
As part of lockdown procedures, all residents in the jail’s central unit will remain in their cells, necessary movement will be done in cohort groups, and some residents will be moved to a medical unit at the Lansing Correctional Facility.
“KDHE has been on site to evaluate the situation and work with us to determine the best course of action,” said Kansas Department of Corrections Secretary Jeff Zmuda in the release. “The measures taken today will help mitigate the risk of continued exposure at the facility, helping ensure the health and safety of our staff and residents.”
In an email to The Star, department of corrections spokeswoman, Rebecca Witte, said the outbreak was caused by staff members who unwittingly contracted the virus and brought it into the prison without showing symptoms.
Since the pandemic began, coronavirus cases have been detected in nine of the 10 facilities run by the Kansas Department of Corrections.
A cluster of the virus at the Lansing Correctional Facility was Kansas’ largest source of COVID-19 cases as of May, according to “classified” state public health information.
The outbreak, which included 96 staff members and 850 residents, was declared contained in June. It is the 19th largest cluster of cases the United States has seen so far, according to the New York Times.
The large number of cases at Lansing was detected after broad scale testing of every inmate in the facility in May. The testing was sparked after 75% of a dormitory of 240 men tested positive for the virus. According to the department of corrections, more than 700 of the 830 cases reported among inmates were asymptomatic.
Testing in Hutchinson will be focused on the prison’s central unit at this time, Witte, the department of corrections spokeswoman said in an email.
This story was originally published August 12, 2020 at 2:36 PM.
