Coronavirus: Cases at Idaho prisons rising, masks required for inmates, staff
As more of those incarcerated at an Idaho prison have tested positive for the coronavirus, the Idaho Department of Correction is now requiring anyone who lives or works in a prison to wear a mask.
In an update published Tuesday, Corrections Director Josh Tewalt wrote that more people at the Idaho State Correctional Center — a prison that holds over 2,100 men in Kuna — have tested positive for the virus, bringing the total cases among inmates to nine as of Tuesday evening. Those who have tested positive were moved to medical units.
However, the number of positives is likely to grow.
Earlier in the week, IDOC officials conducted mass testing for those in the E Block of ISCC, and the department was expecting results Wednesday. According to the IDOC website, 266 tests were pending Wednesday morning.
“Some other correctional systems who have implemented mass testing have identified an asymptomatic positive rate of about 20-25% of those tested, and a large percentage of that group never experience symptoms or complications from the virus,” Tewalt wrote Tuesday.
IDOC said it will publish the results on its website once available, and the results for those who test positive will indicate whether they are symptomatic or asymptomatic.
Six more cases of the coronavirus among IDOC staffers were also reported Tuesday, and four of the six were already in quarantine after being exposed to a known positive. The total staff members with COVID-19 is 28 as of Tuesday.
ISCC is among the five IDOC prisons entirely under quarantine, according to the department’s website. The other four are the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, Idaho State Correctional Institution, South Boise Women’s Correctional Center, and South Idaho Correctional Institution. All are in Kuna.
Groups of inmates have been quarantined at other prisons as well, including the Idaho Correctional Institution in Orofino and the St. Anthony Work Camp in eastern Idaho.
Juvenile Corrections Center-Nampa staffer tests positive
The Juvenile Corrections Center-Nampa, a detention center for boys and girls, reported that a staff member tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday, according to Monty Prow, of the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections.
“During this time, IDJC has been taking considerable precautions to keep youth and staff safe and healthy at our facilities,” Prow said in an email to the Statesman. “To date, we have had one staff member test positive and zero youth test positive for COVID-19.”
The staff member is recovering at home. JCC-Nampa had 49 juveniles in its custody as of Wednesday. The center has a maximum capacity of 84 offenders. They range in age from 10 to 21.
“Due to an abundance of caution, care, and concern for the youth who may have been exposed to the staff member, staff will be working with those youth in a quarantine status from others in the facility for the next seven days,” he said. “Lastly, we are notifying all necessary parties, along with the parents of the youth that may have come into contact with the staff at the Nampa facility.”
During the pandemic, IDJC has suspended home passes for youth, and volunteer programs. Parent or guardian visits have been temporarily suspended and masks are required for staff. Staff is also screened before coming into the facility. IDJC is offering communication with families via telephone, video and the internet on a more frequent basis.
“We think that it is important that the public be aware that daily rehabilitation, education, and treatment services continue to be provided,” Prow said. “Additionally, family engagement is very critical to youth in long-term care settings.”
Ada County facilities require masks
The Ada County Board of Commissioners announced Wednesday that masks will be required in all Ada County facilities for both employees and visitors.
“Currently, we are in Stage 3, as ordered by Central District Health,” a news release from Ada County said. “The Ada County Board of Commissioners re-emphasizes the need to follow the protocols established by public health officials so we can progress to Stage 4 instead of returning to Stage 2.”
The county did not specify how long the mask requirement will last.
Labor Department works to process last of backlogged unemployment claims
The Idaho Department of Labor says it has cleared nearly all of the unemployment claims filed by people who lost their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 153,000 people filed initial claims for unemployment compensation in the 14 weeks after Gov. Brad Little declared an emergency on March 13 through Saturday, June 20.
The department has worked through 85% of the filings and expects to finish the remaining 5,500 claims in the next two weeks, the agency said in a news release.
Telephone wait times have been cut in half, after the department contracted with Maximus to provide 120 call center agents. Call volumes have dropped significantly as the backlog has been reduced.
Canyon County sees record number of cases
Health districts around the state reported nearly 300 new coronavirus cases Tuesday. The case count was second only to the prior day’s totals, when 472 cases were reported.
The 289 cases reported Tuesday represented the the sixth time in the past eight days in which more than 200 cases were made public in a day.
Canyon County, which has the second-highest number of cases in Idaho, recorded its single-day high on Tuesday, reporting 91 newly confirmed cases. Ada County reported the most cases Tuesday with 99, and the county now has well over 2,000 confirmed cases.
Payette County recorded its single-day high, as 14 new cases were reported. The county’s total now sits at 82, as of Tuesday evening.
Elsewhere in Idaho, new cases have continued to pour in. New cases were reported Tuesday in areas like Bonneville, Cassia, Gem, Jerome, Kootenai and Twin Falls counties, among others.
As of Tuesday, there were 5,559 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Idaho.
State health officials reported the 93rd coronavirus death in Idaho on Tuesday. A Jerome County woman over the age of 80 became the latest to die from the virus, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. The death is the fifth to occur in Jerome County.
Coronavirus cases have been reported in most of Idaho’s 44 counties: Ada 2,039, Adams 10, Bannock 91, Bear Lake 1, Benewah 13, Bingham 43, Blaine 523, Boise 4, Bonner 30, Bonneville 80, Boundary 1, Camas 1, Canyon 775, Caribou 14, Cassia 215, Clearwater 1, Custer 5, Elmore 58, Franklin 24, Fremont 6, Gem 22, Gooding 55, Idaho 4, Jefferson 12, Jerome 205, Kootenai 255, Latah 16, Lemhi 2, Lincoln 32, Madison 26, Minidoka 159, Nez Perce 83, Oneida 2, Owyhee 29, Payette 82, Power 16, Teton 16, Twin Falls 504, Valley 13 and Washington 92.
Community spread has been detected in 29 Idaho counties: Ada, Bannock, Benewah, Bingham, Blaine, Bonner, Bonneville, Canyon, Caribou, Cassia, Custer, Elmore, Gem, Gooding, Jefferson, Jerome, Kootenai, Lemhi, Lincoln, Madison, Minidoka, Owyhee, Oneida, Payette, Power, Teton, Twin Falls, Valley and Washington.
This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 9:46 AM.
