Connell prison coronavirus cases continue to soar

Coyote Ridge Corrections Center north of Pasco has 700 percent more COVID-19 cases in employees and inmates than the state prison with the next highest number of cases.

Until the Washington State Department of Corrections released updated numbers this week, the Connell facility was the only prison for months with a growing number of infections.

The state confirmed 60 more cases were reported at the Connell prison in the past week — bringing the total to 280. And it’s the only state prison where two inmates have died from complications of the respiratory disease.

The facility now has had 226 inmates who have tested positive, as well as 54 employees who were infected.

The increase since the initial outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has been dramatic.

At the end of May, corrections officials reported that Coyote Ridge with a prison capacity of 2,500 inmates had 17 coronavirus cases.

By comparison, in mid-May, the Monroe Correctional Complex with a capacity of 2,240 inmates had 27 cases.

But three months later, as of July 8, the number of positive cases at Monroe increased by nine. Five of those were just this week. A Monroe corrections officer also died in May from COVID complications.

During the same time period, Coyote Ridge had 263 more positive cases.

Officials say all the cases have been in the medium security complex at Coyote Ridge. The prison also houses minimum security inmates.

A state memo from the corrections department last week said that 3.3 percent of the incarcerated population tested positive for COVID-19 from June 24-29.

However, 12 percent of the total number of inmates in medium security have had COVID since the outbreak. According to the most recent numbers available, medium security houses 1,888 inmates.

Reducing risks

“Placing the medium security complex on quarantine/restricted movement has been successful in minimizing the spread of the virus,” said Janelle Guthrie, communications director for the corrections department. “Mass testing is another tool to further minimize the spread of this virus by identifying those individuals positive for COVID-19 who have no symptoms.”

When inmates test positive they are separated from others who are negative.

To date, the state has tested over 1,800 inmates at Coyote Ridge.

“Since the additional testing has identified asymptomatic infections, the total number of cases identified has increased,” said Guthrie.

However, the state contends all the efforts, including the testing, are helping to reduce the spread of the virus and to contain it.

But at least one officer working at the prison, who asked not to be named, told the Herald that prison officials were too slow to react to the problem.

“The outbreak was very preventable and countless staff warned management this would happen if actions weren’t taken immediately,” he said.

The staff member said he believes prison leadership showed an indifference toward the pandemic response.

The Office of the Corrections Ombuds found during a monitoring visit June 12 found some concerns by staff members about the health of the prison population and the need for more resources.

The office first visited the Coyote Ridge on May 15 after numerous concerns about the state agency’s response to the pandemic. At that point, the ombuds said employees were not wearing masks improperly. They had them pulled down around their neck or not covering their nose.

Other staff members were seen congregating in an office and not all were wearing masks.

The agency later responded that it was making an emphasis on education and further implementing procedures for consistency.

A rapid increase in cases caused the ombuds to return in June to check on conditions and investigate concerns that some inmates were restricted to “dry cells” without bathrooms and they had to urinate and defecate in meal containers.

Activities were locked down June 11 and the prison’s medium security complex was placed on restricted movement — which severely limited the time inmates had outside of their cells.

At the time, inmates had 20 minutes out of their cell every other day and additional bathroom breaks. Prison officials were having trouble getting time to accommodate more bathroom breaks because of their expanded duties that including preparing and serving meals.

The state officials have since altered the time out of cells to 30 minutes per day and continue to maintain that they are taking many steps to reduce risks and the spread of the virus, including the lockdown procedures.

In late May, the department suspended all classes and put all inmates living in the medium security unit on quarantine.

The ombuds reported the atmosphere of prisoners was “extremely stressed emotionally and mentally” because of the fear, lack of communication from prison officials and lockdown constraints.

“I’ve been on lockdown for over a month. I know I’m strong and encourage others to do the right thing regardless of what they do to us, but I’m breaking mentally — and if they don’t do something quick, those still small voices will fade,” an inmate told the ombuds office.

COVID testing

Initially only inmates who showed symptoms of the virus were being tested, and employees who were symptomatic were asked to quarantine at home and get tested in their home city.

After the second death of a Connell prisoner from COVID-19 complications June 22, the state announced it would start testing all inmates in the prison’s maximum security, as well as all employees regardless of assigned duty area.

The Washington National Guard was ordered to facility to help with the expanded testing that started June 24, along with assistance from the Benton-Franklin Health District and the Washington State Department of Health.

Staff are being testing every seven days until further notice, according to a department memo.

The state also said that prisoners who had tested negative twice for the virus, as well as remained in isolation symptom-free for two weeks could be moved to other state prison facilities.

Since the testing plan began, 115 inmates have tested positive. Guthrie said 84 are housed in “alternative housing locations.”

A small number have been transferred from Coyote Ridge for medical care.

The state reported Thursday that it has completed 2,564 coronavirus tests across the prison system. In March, 17,540 inmates were imprisoned in state facilities.

“Corrections is taking this situation very seriously and doing everything we can to keep our population and our staff healthy and safe during this public health crisis,” the state said in an earlier news release.

This story was originally published July 10, 2020 at 12:58 PM.