238 inmates test positive for coronavirus at Sterling prison, the largest known outbreak in Colorado
A Colorado prison is now the site of the state’s largest confirmed COVID-19 outbreak as mass testing confirms that 238 inmates at Sterling Correctional Facility have the virus.
The number of positive cases at the facility spiked as more results from the 472 tests administered last week became available. Of those tested, half were positive. Sixteen tests were inconclusive, 216 were negative and two were still pending Tuesday afternoon, Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman Annie Skinner said in an email.
Four of the sick inmates were in the hospital Tuesday afternoon, Skinner said.
The coronavirus outbreak at the Sterling prison is the largest known in the state, according to data collected by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The existence of large outbreaks in prisons across the country are coming to light as more states conduct mass testing in their facilities. Thousands of prisoners have tested positive nationwide, including many who showed no symptoms.
The round of testing last week is the first time the Colorado Department of Corrections has completed mass testing in one of its facilities. The broad testing began after eight inmates tested positive for the coronavirus at the Sterling prison, which is the largest in the state system. Outside of the mass testing conducted last week, the Department of Corrections has tested 38 inmates. Of those, only one inmate outside of the Sterling prison tested positive and has since recovered.
The department is now working with state health officials to determine next steps regarding further testing, Skinner said.
Families of the men incarcerated at the facility have watched with anxiety as the testing results became public. Some have struggled to find out whether their loved one has the coronavirus. Restrictions on inmates’ movements have made it difficult for them to communicate with the outside world.
Before the pandemic, Kim White talked to her 22-year-old son, Dustin Logan, at least once a day and visited him at the prison every two or three weeks. In March, the Department of Corrections canceled visitation in an effort to prevent the introduction of the coronavirus into state prisons. Then, even calls between inmates and their families ceased as the facility was put on lockdown. She had no communication from her son for a week and a half before receiving a call from him Monday.
When the news broke Friday that 138 inmates at the prison had tested positive for COVID-19, White frantically called the Department of Corrections to see if her son was one of the positive cases. They wouldn’t give her an answer, she said.
“It’s very heartbreaking,” she said. “I can’t hear his voice. I can’t see him. I can’t hug him every two or three weeks when we go see him.”
Monday night, Logan called White to tell her that he had tested positive for COVID-19. White said her son had been experiencing body aches and piercing migraines, but he thought the issues were connected to being locked in his cell for 23 hours a day with little room to move.
She worries about him and whether he’ll receive adequate care in the prison. He had pneumonia less than six months ago and has other underlying health issues, White said.
Carmen Covert has experienced the same lack of answers when calling for information on her boyfriend who is incarcerated at Sterling. For two weeks, the couple was only able to communicate through letters.
“It’s torture. It’s physical, emotional torture,” she said. “Only being in contact through mail — I’m grateful for that — but it’s hard not being able to hear their voice and knowing the day to day, or how they’re being treated.”
Covert finally received a phone call from him on Monday afternoon. He told her that he still hadn’t received the results of the COVID-19 test administered to him on Wednesday. He said that while correctional officers were required to wear masks, not all of them were doing so.
She feels helpless. She can’t keep him safe.
“My back’s against a wall, there’s nothing I can do to help him,” she said. “These men are already in a compromised position, there’s nothing they can do to get away from it. If they get it, you just have to pray that they’ll be okay.”
That stress is also felt by the correctional officers who work in the prisons, said Hilary Glasgow, executive director of Colorado Workers for Innovative and New Solutions, the union that represents state workers, including those at the Department of Corrections. The department was understaffed before the coronavirus pandemic, she said.
“It’s just so exhausting,” Glasgow said. “You’re not just working with your coworkers who are freaked out about the virus, they’re working with freaked out inmates too.”
The union has communicated with corrections unions across the nation to talk about best practices for preventing coronavirus in prisons, Glasgow said.
“We’re kind of on the cutting edge of addressing it before it became a massive problem,” Glasgow said.
So far, the staff at Sterling Correctional Facility have been minimally impacted by COVID-19, said Michelle Pemberton of the Northeast Colorado Health Department.
“Steps taken by the Sterling Correctional Facility have been effective in protecting staff members thus far,” Pemberton said in an email. “Sterling Regional MedCenter has a Surge Plan in place but have had no unusual concern about the effects they may see as a result of the outbreak at the Sterling Correctional Facility.”
The testing at the prison has caused rural Logan County’s rate of coronavirus cases to skyrocket to the top of the list of worst-hit counties. Logan County has 266 cases amid its 21,854 residents and its rate of 1,217 cases per 100,000 residents triples the rate seen in Denver, according to state health data.
The Department of Corrections needs to conduct more mass testing across the prison system before it can adequately prevent more spread, attorney Gail Johnson, whose clients include incarcerated people, said.
“It’s impossible to address the problem until they know the scale of the problem,” she said.
Medical care in Colorado’s prisons were substandard even outside the pressures of a pandemic, Johnson said. More releases from the system are necessary both to allow more space for social distancing and so those released can access better health care outside prison walls.
“There’s no reason to expect things to get better,” she said of prison health care. “On the contrary, there’s reason to believe deaths will occur.”
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