VANCOUVER -- A federal correctional facility in B.C.'s Fraser Valley now has more COVID-19 infections than any other Canadian prison.
The Union of Canadian Correctional Officers said Monday nearly four dozen people at the medium-security Mission Institution have been confirmed to have COVID-19.
According to the union, there are now 41 infected inmates who have tested positive, up from 35 the day before. There are also six correctional officers with the virus, up from one.
Correctional Service Canada data, updated the same day, shows the institution has the highest number of confirmed cases of all federal corrections facilities.
“As soon as the first cases were declared in Port-Cartier Institution in Quebec, measures were undertaken to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The management of Mission Institution needed to take similar immediate steps, but that did not happen,” said Derek Chin, Pacific regional president of the workers union, in a news release.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said eight inmates are in hospital and one has been discharged.
She also said there will likely be even more confirmed cases.
“There was quite a lot of transmission that happened before the outbreak was recognized and we are now seeing people who were exposed over the previous two weeks developing symptoms,” she told reporters Monday.
A spokesperson with the CSC said they have implemented measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“We have preventative measures in place to actively screen employees prior to allowing anyone to enter our institutions, in addition to ongoing prevention education and awareness,” Esther Mailhot wrote in an email to CTV News.
The union is now calling for further protection for the 155 officers who work at the correctional centre.
“Management must put an immediate stop to the movement of staff between institutions and reduce movement between posts within the institution,” said Chin.
The province implemented a similar measure for its when long-term care facilities, where health care staff often work in multiple facilities.
Chin also noted that a professional cleaning service indisfected the prison a few days ago and “no proper follow-up” has been conducted.
The union is also asking that correctional officers are not asked to return to work until they have received their COVID-19 tests or until they have completed their 14 days of self-isolation.
“We don’t understand why management at Mission Institution are putting money before us. It is completely unacceptable that our members who were exposed to the coronavirus are being pressured to return to work,” said Jeff Wilkins, the national president of the union.
Lastly, it asks that surgical masks are distributed to all inmates.
Legal advocates for prisoners have also expressed their concerns that more wasn’t being done to prevent an outbreak from happening within prison walls.
“This has been going on for a number of weeks now and we don't know why CSC wouldn't have taken those precautions from the outset,” said Jennifer Metcalfe with Prisoners’ Legal Services. “So now we're seeing this spike in cases at Mission which is because they didn't take proper precautions.”
The spokesperson with the CSC said there are steps being taken to protect the safety of the inmates.
“We have dedicated health services and operational staff on site with equipment needed to monitor and treat inmates, including necessary personal protective equipment,” Mailhot said.
Health care professionals have been petitioning the government to release inmates who pose a low public safety risk, a move that some provinces and countries have already taken.
“All prisoners are given security ratings and so there shouldn't be any delay in releasing people that have a low public safety risk,” Metcalfe said.
She said they are hearing of “inhumane conditions” where prisoners haven’t had a shower in more than a week, contrary to health professionals’ recommendations of practicing good hand hygiene.
She also worries of the inmates’ mental wellness of being in solitary confinement.
“I think when you balance the risk to the public of the virus getting out of control with the risk to public safety and releasing people before the end of their sentences, I think the balance is in favour of depopulation,” said Metcalfe.
