Eight Kansas prison inmates, 7 staff positive for coronavirus amid outbreak warnings
Eight inmates and seven staff members at the Lansing Correctional facility have been infected with the new coronavirus, according to data from the Kansas Department of Corrections released Tuesday.
Last week, three cases of the coronavirus were confirmed among staff members at the facility. The first positive case for an inmate and a fourth staff member were announced Saturday.
The number of cases in the prison, located in Leavenworth County, had more than doubled by Tuesday.
Kansas Department of of Health and Environment Secretary Lee Norman said in a news conference Monday that he is monitoring the situation at the prison carefully.
“In fact, I’ve assigned one of my staff to be there full-time to manage an outbreak that’s there,” he told reporters.
Norman said the prison is well-designed, including the way it allows offenders to be separated. He didn’t elaborate, but predicted Lansing will be in better shape compared to prisons elsewhere in the country.
Lansing is the only state prison with confirmed cases thus far, according to the state corrections department.
In response to the cases, the department is testing anyone who shows symptoms and monitoring those who came in contact with a confirmed patient, said Department of Corrections spokeswoman Rebecca Witte.
The department has reduced movement of the residents in the facility but is not confining them to their cells, Witte said.
Work release
Off-site work release programs, Witte said, have been limited.
Inmates are still being allowed out of the facility for some work programs but programs are evaluated on a case by case basis depending on whether the work is essential, whether the company is following KDHE guidelines and how much interaction with the public is required.
Furthermore, Witte said, anyone who comes into the facility, including inmates, must complete a screening process for symptoms and fever.
“If symptoms don’t show up for a while that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll catch everything,” Witte said.
Inmates are encouraged to report immediately if they experience symptoms, the two dollar cost for a screening will be waived, Witte said.
Last week, advocates sent a letter to the corrections department and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly calling for the release of certain prisoners to protect against COVID-19 outbreaks in prisons.
Some renewed those calls Tuesday, saying that if the government trusted inmates for daily work releases there was no reason not to release them from custody for the duration of the pandemic.
“The continued back and forth of work release participants between their jobs and jail puts everyone at risk—those they work with, those they are housed with, and those who work at the jail,” Tricia Bushnell, Director of the Midwest Innocence Project, said in an email to The Star.
“Continuing to require work release participants to return to jail after work is irresponsible, unnecessary, and contradictory to advice by public health experts.”
No plans to release prisoners have been announced, though officials said last week they were in an “exploratory phase” regarding such action.
Kelly signaled Tuesday afternoon that she is considering accelerating the release of inmates who are already close to the end of their sentences. She said officials have been going through the list of inmates nearing their release time to see which ones have places to live, jobs lined up and could successfully go back into society.
“We’re processing all of that and hopefully we will be able to move quite a few of those folks back into their communities,” Kelly said at a news conference.
In a news release Tuesday, Federal Public Defender for the District of Kansas Melody Brannon acknowledged that Kelly is working on the issue but called for prosecutors to avoid detention whenever possible.
“Our clients are no long awaiting their day in court. They are waiting, behind locked doors in overcrowded cells, for the inescapable day when COVID-19 will arrive, “ Brannon said in the release. “Inherent in our failure to act is the judgment that they are less worthy.”
“We parse their alleged wrongdoings to weigh against the cost of release. We don’t have time for that.”
Statewide at least 900 people in Kansas have been infected with the new coronavirus. At least 27 have died from complications of the virus, according to KDHE data.
The Star’s Jonathan Shorman contributed to this story.
This story was originally published April 7, 2020 at 1:04 PM with the headline "Eight Kansas prison inmates, 7 staff positive for coronavirus amid outbreak warnings."
