Five Luzerne County Correctional Facility workers test positive for coronavirus

Five Luzerne County Correctional Facility employees have tested positive for coronavirus, county Manager C. David Pedri announced Thursday afternoon.

No inmate cases have been reported, he said.

According to a release he issued Thursday:

Contact tracing was completed and revealed the five workers had prolonged contact with 10 other employees. These 10 were not showing any symptoms of COVID-19 but have been instructed to quarantine and are undergoing testing.

Prison staff continues to monitor the situation for other potential quarantine needs.

The work areas of all impacted employees have been thoroughly cleaned.

There is no public admission into the prison on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre at this time, and all nonessential groups have been cancelled.

All contractors have been suspended from entering the facility.

Attorneys may visit their clients through glass-partitioned visiting booths or, if requested, in visitation rooms with personal protective equipment required for both the inmate and attorney.

All transports from the prison to the court have been suspended until Oct. 13.

The prison has strict guidelines to address coronavirus. In light of the positive tests, prison administrative staff has begun reinforcing those guidelines while following U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommendations as it has throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

Following protocol implemented early in the pandemic, new inmates are segregated and must undergo medical observation before they are released into the general population, it said.

Pedri said he will keep the public informed of any updates and asked residents to send their thoughts and prayers to the workers for their speedy recovery.

First communication

Pedri had informed county council of the first case in an email Tuesday, saying he had just confirmed a prison worker tested positive for COVID-19. This employee last worked at the county prison on Oct. 2. The employee was quarantining at home and had minor symptoms.

Contact tracing established the worker had prolonged contact with eight other employees, and they were all instructed to quarantine and undergo testing. At that time, none of the eight were showing symptoms, it said.

The employee who tested positive had been assigned to the intake area, which was undergoing thorough cleaning, it said.

Pedri followed up with a second email around 10:30 a.m. Thursday, informing council a second prison employee had tested positive and was experiencing minor symptoms.

This employee also last worked at the prison on Oct. 2, it said. Contact tracing determined that worker had not exposed any other employees through prolonged contact, and the work area where this employee had been stationed was thoroughly cleaned, it said.

Monitoring inmates

The prison is still segregating incoming inmate arrivals for 14 days to monitor them for symptoms, county Correctional Services Division Head Mark Rockovich said Thursday.

Attempting to free up space for this purpose, county attorneys and the court had launched an effort to release non-violent offenders with low-level charges, including nonpayment of child support and minor drug possession, officials said.

In March, at the start of the pandemic, the average daily population was 668 at the prison and nearby Reichard Street minimum offenders building, also in Wilkes-Barre.

By June, the average daily population was down to 385 — 344 at the prison and 41 in the minimum offenders building, records show.

However, the population has since started climbing back up. The average daily population in September was 479-359 at the prison and 120 in the minimal offenders, Rockovich said Thursday.

County Court of Common Pleas President Judge Michael T. Vough said the court’s criminal division met Thursday and agreed to once again analyze the county prison population to determine if there are any inmates who can be released because they are eligible for parole or awaiting trial for minor crimes on bails that can reevaluated.

Public defenders also were instructed to file appropriate petitions if they have clients eligible for parole or reduction of potentially excessive bail, Vough said.

“The public can rest assured it’s not going to be anyone involved with violent crimes. It’s mostly misdemeanors,” Vough said.

The county administration also is seeking bids for a proposal to add heating and air conditioning, showers and restrooms at the prison gym in case the space is needed for inmate housing in a coronavirus outbreak or other mass medical situation down the road.

It’s unclear if the project will proceed because it must be completed by the end of this year and meet other guidelines to qualify for reimbursement from the county’s federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act as proposed by the administration, officials have said.

In addition to serving as quarantine space for new arrivals, the gym could house a makeshift medical unit, providing onsite treatment instead of requiring inmates to be transported to the hospital with as many as three correctional officers necessary round-the-clock, Rockovich has said.

The gym is large enough to allow 30 cots with social distancing and barriers between them, Rockovich has estimated. Venting could be designed to move air out of the gym so it is not recirculated throughout the prison, he said.