NORTHAMPTON — While the country wrestles with a rapidly changing way of life amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, correctional facilities in the area are dealing with their own unique challenges as they try to mitigate the spread of the infectious disease.
Jails cannot close or reduce their operating hours and are densely populated. At the Hampshire County Jail and House of Correction, Sheriff Patrick J. Cahillane said in a letter that a outbreak of the novel coronavirus among staff or inmates in his confined correctional facility would be “difficult to control, and potentially devastating.”
That’s why Cahillane is trying to avert a COVID-19 outbreak by suspending all visits to his jail until further notice, with exceptions for clergy or attorneys, and isolating new intakes to monitor for illness. And he’s not alone — the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department is following similar protocol.
“You don’t want everyone in a panic situation, but this is a closed environment,” Cahillane said in an interview at the jail. “Keeping it out is much more important than trying to deal with it if it gets in. And that is the reality of it.”
As of Tuesday, any clergy, attorneys or staff with a temperature above 100.4 degrees or higher will not be allowed inside. All new arrivals to the jail will also be quarantined in the jail’s Assessment Screening Unit for up to 14 days before being released to the general population as of Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the sheriff’s office said they were communicating with the Northwestern district attorney’s office “in reviewing our current population, pre-trial and sentenced, to determine if any among them can be safely returned to the community during this time of COVID-19 uncertainty,” though no decisions have been reached.
Holding about 200 or more inmates at any one time, the jail welcomes around 800 family members in visitations per month, according to Katie McKenna-Weiss, the jail’s medical director. Cahillane understands that restricting visitation may come across as punitive to inmates. So each incarcerated person will be given a free phone card for a 10-minute call each day, according to the sheriff’s office.
In the jail’s medical unit, McKenna-Weiss said medical staff are focused on prevention and preparation for the novel coronavirus by educating staff about the virus as well as drafting medical directives.
If an inmate showed any of the symptoms of COVID-19, McKenna-Weiss said correctional officers would isolate the inmate and alert staff so they could clear the medical department to mitigate transmission risks. Medical staff would evaluate the inmate with proper protective equipment and, if the patient meets certain symptom criteria, the jail would contact the state Department of Health.
Depending on how ill the inmate presents, they might be brought to Cooley Dickinson Hospital or be kept under watch in isolation at the jail, McKenna-Weiss said.
Cahillane said that even before the implementation of the jail’s rules to quarantine new inmates that people were being screened at the courthouse, and then once again at the jail’s sally port for any symptoms. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it could take up to 14 days for COVID-19 symptoms to start showing — meaning that despite best efforts, the virus could still penetrate the jail’s walls.
“We’re just going to do the best we can to prevent it from becoming an epidemic,” Cahillane said. “And that’s all we can do.”
During a tour of the jail, Cahillane showed a reporter an on-going orientation with inmates and Wanda Rolon, a caseworker at the jail. In what was previously the jail’s visitation room, the group was discussing COVID-19, its symptoms and ways to prevent its spread, such as washing your hands and covering your face.
Across the Connecticut River in Ludlow, the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department last week placed a Holyoke man being booked into the Hampden County Correctional Center into “preventative medical quarantine” for symptoms consistent with COVID-19. By Friday he was removed from isolation as he was symptom-free and no longer ill, according to the sheriff’s office.
As of Monday, all non-essential staff at the sheriff’s department have been excused from work, and visitation at the Ludlow jail and Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center in Chicopee has been paused for 60 days or until the coronavirus threat passes, with exceptions for attorneys and clergy who must wear face masks while visiting, according to a statement. Inmates have been given two hours of free phone calls and three envelopes for letters each week in lieu of personal visits, the statement said.
People being held before court dates at both the men and women’s jail will also be separated from the general population in orientation areas for a minimum of five days for monitoring, the statement said. Transfers will not be accepted unless they have been in custody for at least 14 days and are symptom-free.
“These are unprecedented times and to adapt, and best protect our staff, the offenders in our care and the general public, we are taking unprecedented measures that impact virtually every aspect of our operations,” Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi said in a statement.
Other changes at the Hampden County jail include no property pick-ups until further notice as well as the temporary discontinuation of community service and inmate work programs. Food and medical service to inmates will continue, and video conferencing and video visiting measures are being explored, the statement said. The PVTA’s Stonybrook Express will only take inmates leaving the sheriff department’s custody, the statement said.
Michael Connors can be reached at mconnors@gazettenet.com.