Pa. state prisons under quarantine following inmate covid-19 diagnosis

Inmates in Pennsylvania’s 25 state prisons were quarantined to their cells following the first diagnosis of covid-19 in an inmate at State Correctional Institution at Phoenix, located near Philadelphia.

Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel announced the quarantine at 10 p.m. Sunday.

It is the latest move to contain and mitigate the spread of the coronavirus among the state’s 44,600 inmates and the thousands of state workers at the prisons.

As of Sunday night, officials said three prison employees had tested positive for covid-19. The department is screening all employees who come into the prisons for symptoms of the illness.

New inmates are being isolated at SCI-Retreat in eastern Pennsylvania.

Officials also began working to expedite the release of inmates who have pending home plans.

“Quarantining the entire system is in the best interest of our employees and our inmates,” Wetzel said. “This is essentially forced social distancing. We must take this step to contain the virus to one facility and to keep it from spreading throughout the system. I don’t want to wait until we have several cases in our system to act. We’re taking this proactive measure now.”

The department previously suspended visits to prisoners.

Under the quarantine order, inmates will be fed in their cells. But they will be granted out-of-cell time for video visits, phone calls and access to the law library, with all movement controlled to conform to social distancing recommendations.

On March 19, officials announced plans to expedite the release of hundreds of nonviolent offenders from the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh.

While no similar moves were planned in Westmoreland County, officials said work release has been suspended and court appearances are postponed through the first week of April. Visitation has been barred and inmates and staff are being screened for possible symptoms of the covid-19.

Emergency bail hearings, bench warrants and other matters to be heard by a judge will be conducted by remote computer hook-ups in order to reduce the potential for spread of the virus.