A staff member at Vermont’s only women’s prison has tested positive for Covid-19, and the facility is now in lockdown while inmates and all other staff are tested.
This is only the third positive case reported at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility since the beginning of the pandemic. The first was a staff member who tested positive in May. The second was an incoming prisoner whose Covid status was detected upon her arrival in June. Neither case caused community spread.
The most recent positive test result came back Monday, and the prison went into lockdown immediately, said Rachel Feldman, spokesperson for the Vermont Department of Corrections. The lockdown was first reported by Seven Days.
“What a full lockdown means is that there is no cohorting in common areas, people are in their cells all day, so med line has to happen that way, and so does food distribution,” Feldman said.
The 88 inmates were not informed of the reason for the lockdown until Wednesday afternoon, when an alert was sent directly to their tablets.
“Until we can get people all the information, we run the risk of creating more fear,” Feldman said. “Our job is to keep people safe, so we communicate as soon as we have all the available information, to give people as much detail as possible.”
Advocates say the women weren’t notified soon enough. Ashley Messier, executive director of the Women’s Justice & Freedom Initiative in Burlington, said the plan for responding to a Covid case at the prison isn’t as streamlined as it should be.
“We’ve consistently asked corrections for more information sharing,” Messier said. “These are real human beings who were locked in cells and didn’t have access to meals on time or meds on time, or given any information about what was happening. That’s really stressful.”
The women at the prison will remain in lockdown until test results come back, Feldman said. Messier said the fact that testing isn’t happening until today or Friday, five days after the virus was discovered, is particularly problematic.
The women prisoners last had a last Covid tests Nov. 24. Staff members were being tested every two weeks, while prisoners are tested on a rotating schedule every six weeks.
Messier said prisons across the country have been hotbeds for Covid outbreaks, and Vermont should focus on releasing everyone it possibly can from prisons during the pandemic.
She said it’s especially concerning that, with a vaccine rollout on the horizon, corrections staff are at the top of the list of recipients, while the prisoners are not.
“These are real people. There are people’s families and loved ones being subjected to very unsafe pandemic conditions,” Messier said. “Covid costs people their lives, and we need to remember that’s even more of a concern in these facilities.”
Feldman said the lockdown ensures social distancing while the prison awaits test results. Inmates in all Vermont prisons are now required to wear masks.
“Our hope is that this did not spread, but the test results will either confirm or deny that and subsequent action will depend on the results of these tests,” Feldman said.
Feldman said the Department of Corrections has had low Covid numbers throughout the pandemic, and called on Vermont residents to follow the governor’s guidelines to help keep them low. As has been seen in long-term care facilities, Covid cases have been rising, and health officials say that’s because the virus level in the community has been rising.
“Be vigilant,” Feldman said. “Our officers are first responders. There’s no day you can say, ‘Everyone gets a day off.’ People are in there 24/7, 365 days a year, so really appreciate the sacrifice everyone is making to keep these people safe.”
