‘Presumed positive’: Canyon County jail skips coronavirus testing for different approach
The Ada County Jail, which has housed roughly 900 people daily in December, had conducted 3,088 coronavirus tests among inmates as of Dec. 18, and 373 of them were positive.
The jail in Twin Falls County, which houses up to roughly 200 inmates daily, had done 671 coronavirus tests as of Dec. 17, and 287 were positive.
At the Canyon County jail, meanwhile, where roughly 400 people are in custody each day, there have been only four inmates tested for the coronavirus since the pandemic reached Idaho. The dearth of testing is in direct contradiction to recommendations from the state of Idaho and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but the jail has taken a different approach.
Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue declined to interview with the Statesman, instead issuing a written statement. Donahue wrote that the Sheriff’s Office, which runs the jail, concluded “that we can balance our competing priorities most efficiently by presuming positive results under appropriate conditions as the CDC guidelines suggest.”
“In other words, if an inmate is presumed positive, the inmate would be isolated for 14 days or until they are released from custody. If an inmate tests positive, the same thing happens. If a test results in a false negative, on the other hand, the rest of the population could be inadvertently exposed while additional testing is arranged and additional resources are expended.”
Canyon County reported that since the pandemic began, two inmates tested positive. One was in custody when results came back and the other had already been released. The test positivity rate among Canyon County residents is at more than 20%, according to Southwest District Health.
The Canyon County Sheriff’s Office contracts with VitalCore Health Strategies to serve as its medical provider for the inmate population. VitalCore has recommended that the jail quarantine or isolate 227 inmates for COVID-19-related issues since March, according to the county.
However, if an inmate claims to have been exposed, the medical provider does not automatically test them.
“The medical provider advised that their standard for testing is ‘after a thorough evaluation of symptomology it is decided if testing should be done,’ which is based off of the community standard for testing,” Canyon County spokesman Joe Decker wrote in an email to the Statesman.
The Statesman reached out to VitalCore for comment on testing policy and a message was never returned.
Since March, Canyon County has had well over 4,000 people in and out of its jail. A record request filed by the Statesman found that between March 1 and Dec. 3, the Sheriff’s Office had booked 4,410 individuals.
Through Friday, Southwest District Health reported that there had been 19 cases of confirmed coronavirus where the Canyon County jail was mentioned. In nine of the cases, the patient listed the jail as a workplace, and 10 of the patients reported admittance to the jail, according to Katrina Williams, spokesperson for the district. Williams said the jail was noted in those people’s contact tracing, but there is no way to definitively know whether the patient contracted the virus while there.
Testing at corrections facilities
Regarding the VitalCore language, Donahue declined to specify what “quarantine” or “isolation” actually means.
Decker explained reasons for isolation at the jail.
“This happens almost daily with new inmates, where they claim during the booking process that they’ve been around someone with COVID or they have COVID themselves,” Decker wrote in an email.
The CDC recommends testing symptomatic people as well as asymptomatic people with recent known or suspected exposure, a guideline the Canyon County jail is not following.
“Because of the potential for asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission, it is important that contacts of (incarcerated or detained persons) and staff with COVID-19 be quickly identified and tested,” according to the CDC.
“Because correctional and detention facilities may not have enough space to provide an individual cell for each quarantined (inmate), they may need to form cohorts of quarantined (inmates) who were exposed to (the virus) at the same time.”
According to the state of Idaho’s recommendations, published May 20 by the Idaho Testing Task Force, incoming staff and inmates at correctional facilities who are symptomatic of COVID-19 should be a first priority for testing, within hours of entering.
As of Dec. 21, Southwest District Health reported more than 17,000 confirmed coronavirus infections in Canyon County and 198 deaths as a result of COVID-19-related causes.
There are no mandatory public health restrictions in Canyon County, but Southwest District Health has issued an advisory for the district urging the use of masks and caution about large gatherings.
The Canyon sheriff’s response
Donahue said that a lack of testing at the Canyon jail has not altered the plan put in place to ensure inmate and staff safety during the pandemic. He said the outcomes are the same as if a positive result were generated by a test.
“Running the second-largest county jail in Idaho is no easy task in a normal year, let alone a year with a global pandemic. It has no doubt been a challenging year, but I could not be prouder of the work and sacrifices of my deputies and staff over these past nine months,” Donahue wrote in the statement. “They have continued to focus on the health of the inmates, the security of our jail facilities, and public safety as whole, all while doing so within the limitations of a taxpayer-funded budget.
“Further, by working closely with Southwest District Health and following their recommendations and evaluation of the protocols my office has put in place since this pandemic began, we have worked diligently in keeping exposure of the virus to a limited level in our detention facility.”
Donahue went on to say that VitalCore, which “has the necessary professional licensure and expertise,” recommended the “presumed positive” approach. He wrote that more than 225 inmates at the jail have been quarantined since the pandemic began.
“Although we decline to provide information about specific inmate housing arrangements, and our structural imitations are well-known, we have done our best to maintain isolation and quarantine protocols,” the sheriff wrote.
Donahue said the jail’s protocols include “screening of all incoming inmates to our facility by medical personnel; providing masks to all inmates; requiring staff to wear masks; and conducting temperature checks on all staff and personnel before entering the facility.”
He said there have not been “any significant outbreaks among inmates or staff.”
Canyon County jail constraints
In 2019, the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office estimated the average length of stay at the Canyon County jail to be about 15 days. The jail’s official name is the Dale G. Haile Detention Center, and it was built nearly 30 years ago in Caldwell.
Between March 1-Dec. 3, Canyon County reported 6,252 bookings into the jail, with 4,410 people incarcerated, according to the response of a Statesman record request. The current maximum capacity at the facility is about 470 beds, including a temporary tent facility that’s become semi-permanent to hold inmates, as well as a trailer facility in the parking lot that provides additional space.
The inmate population fluctuates daily. On Aug. 1, the jail housed 397 people, but on Sept. 5, it had 441 people. On Oct. 3, the number was 442, and on Nov. 7, it was down to 354. That does not include the number of staff in the building daily.
The county and Sheriff’s Office have repeatedly requested bonds to pay for construction of a new, modern jail with needed space, but the measures have always failed with voters.
A copy of the contract renewal between Canyon County and Vital Core Health Strategies obtained by the Statesman shows the county agreed to pay $1.64 million for the services at the jail for Oct. 1,2020, till Sept. 31, 2021.
