WAILUA — There have been no active cases of COVID-19 at the Kaua‘i Community Correctional Center, though an outbreak was reported last week at the Hawai‘i Community Correctional Center on Hawai‘i Island.
A total of 99 inmates and 13 staff who tested positive for COVID-19 at HCCC. The state Department of Public Safety said the latest numbers were detected as part of a mass-testing program.
The DPS continues to encourage all staff and inmates to voluntarily get tested and receive the COVID vaccination.
“Vaccinations are a critical part of the Department of Public Safety’s efforts to mitigate spread of the virus among employees as well as the inmate population,” DPS Director Max Otani said in a news release.
“The constant intake and release of pre-trial detainees in the jails make it difficult to fully vaccinate this population,” he said.
The DPS COVID-19 inmate-testing report, as of June 3, said KCCC tested 343 inmates throughout the pandemic, and all tested negative, with only one staff member testing positive who has since recovered. There are currently no active staff cases.
DPS Public Information Officer Toni Schwartz said DPS has been working closely with the state Department of Health and the district health offices on each island to coordinate and provide opportunities for inmates to receive the vaccine on a voluntary basis.
“Our health-care and security staff are doing everything they can to encourage inmates to get vaccinated,” Schwartz said. “They frequently go back to inmates who have said ‘no’ to see if they will reconsider, in the hopes that they will get the shot before they are released.”
County of Kaua‘i Prosecuting Attorney Justin Kollar said his team is in regular communication with the folks at the jail.
“(We) thank them for their efforts over the past 15 months in keeping KCCC COVID-safe,” Kollar said. “We couldn’t succeed without their partnership.”
Schwartz said the DPS health-care staff, as well as the team from the DOH assigned to DPS, have been going inside the correctional facilities every week to conduct testing and offer inmate vaccinations.
“During that time, they encourage and educate employees about the
benefits of getting the
vaccine, especially since they work in the correctional facilities, which have presented a high risk of transmission,” Schwartz said.
“They also make themselves available to answer questions from inmates about the vaccine every time they enter the facilities for testing, and continually try to convince them to reconsider and get the shot before release.”
In a press release last week, DPS said COVID-19 testing is continuously being conducted statewide at all facilities. The latest test results at other facilities follow: O‘ahu Community Correctional Center, seven negative inmate test results; Women’s Community Correctional Center, one negative inmate test result.
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Stephanie Shinno, education and business reporter, can be reached at 245-0424 or sshinno@thegardenisland.com. The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Increase in positive is cause by Vaccine think ! I love kauai.!