COVID-19 outbreak at Kentucky prison for women worsens. 174 test positive.
A COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread through Kentucky’s prison for women in Shelby County, with 92 inmates infected as of Monday, local health officials report.
A total of 159 inmates and 15 employees have tested positive for the novel coronavirus since May 26 at the Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women in Peewee Valley, according to data posted online by the Kentucky Corrections Department. No deaths have been announced.
The 733-bed prison houses 643 inmates.
In a pending federal lawsuit, seven KCIW inmates with health problems blame prison officials for a “complete failure to respond to the exceptionally severe risks posed by the outbreak.” The inmates say that even in recent days, prison officials have not provided adequate masking, cleaning and social distancing.
“Respondents are not enforcing even the minimal ‘every other seat’ policy they created for use in the dining hall, and in fact abandon the policy altogether as soon as the dining hall fills up,” the inmates wrote in a court filing on July 2.
“Throughout the day, the people incarcerated at KCIW are almost always within an arms’ reach of another person,” the inmates wrote. “The physical layout of KCIW generally results in a constant churning of the population, with people crossing paths and coming into contact with each other as they move about the facility to access the recreation yard, dining hall or their work assignments.”
Last month, the ACLU of Kentucky asked a federal district judge in Louisville to order the immediate release of medically vulnerable inmates held at the women’s prison. The judge ruled against an immediate release, and the inmates’ case was transferred to Lexington, where it continues.
“The growing COVID-19 case count at KCIW is sadly predictable and was unfortunately preventable,” ACLU Legal Fellow Aaron Tucek said Tuesday.
“As the rest of the nation faces an unprecedented surge of coronavirus cases, (the Department of Corrections) needs to do much more to reduce populations and allow people to safely isolate at home, create space for incarcerated people to practice social distancing, ensure that all people in DOC facilities wear masks at all times, and increase access to soap and cleaning supplies,” Tucek said. “Continued DOC failure threatens all the progress Kentucky has made in containing this pandemic.”
The women’s prison began mass testing for the coronavirus on June 12 and is now doing retesting, Corrections Department spokeswoman Lisa Lamb said.
“Due to the highly contagious nature of the virus and the fact that many individuals are asymptomatic, many of those individuals who tested negative in the first round are now positive,” Lamb said.
The inmate population is being segregated into four groups, Lamb said: inmates who test positive, inmates who test negative, inmates who test negative but who have been exposed to the virus and medically vulnerable inmates. Also, she said, prison officials have distributed masks to staff and inmates, and they are cleaning the facility with germicide and a bleach solution throughout each day.
“Masks are mandatory for all staff and inmates,” Lamb said. “In addition to the masks, the staff wear gloves and protective gowns in the housing units where positive inmates are housed.”
KCIW is the second Kentucky state prison to see a major COVID-19 outbreak. In Muhlenberg County this spring, three inmates died after testing positive for the coronavirus at the Green River Correctional Complex, while 367 inmates and 51 employees were infected.
At the Federal Medical Center, a federal prison on Leestown Road in Lexington, at least seven inmates have died and 240 inmates and 10 employees have been infected with COVID-19, although the U.S. Bureau of Prisons reports that most of those infected have recovered.
This story was originally published July 7, 2020 at 11:03 AM.
