COVID-19 cases dip among Clark County jail inmates

The Clark County Jail has managed to reduce the number of positive COVID-19 cases among its inmates, following a late-fall outbreak at the facility.

For the past two weeks, the jail reported in its weekly update to the state that no inmates had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. However, earlier this week, Jail Chief Ric Bishop said there were three active cases each among the inmate population and staff.

“We mirror the community. We’re a microcosm of it,” Bishop said. “What happens out there is also going to be reflected in the jail.”

The rate of new cases per 100,000 population over 14 days dropped to 310.54 as of Monday, putting the county back into the “moderate” range for disease activity, according to data released Tuesday by Clark County Public Health. The moderate range requires between 50 and 350 new cases per 100,000 people over 14 days.

According to Bishop, there are dozens of fewer inmates who have the virus now than there were a couple months ago. A total of 44 inmates housed at the jail had tested positive for COVID-19 by early December.

Bishop credits the recent drop in cases to the facility’s adherence to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

The jail has had a plan in place for inmates displaying COVID-19 symptoms for nearly a year. It includes identifying and testing consistent with community standards. Unique to the jail, the plan includes isolating inmates in negative airflow cells and non-recycled air housing units.

The CDC guidelines recommend and the jail has employed a strategy of cohorting, which refers to the practice of isolating multiple people with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 together or quarantining close contacts as a group due to a limited number of individual jail cells.

The jail also has increased its routine cleaning protocols, as well as given instructions to inmates and staff about physical distancing and hygiene.

“It seems to have worked. We’re also getting a lot of help from (Clark County Public Health) on what we should be doing,” Bishop said.

The three sick employees are not causing an issue with staffing at the jail, he said. There was a higher number of staff who tested positive for COVID-19 in November, but a worst-case-scenario contingency plan has not yet needed to be used.

Local criminal justice officials have met multiple times over the past year to discuss the jail’s inmate population and steps needed to prevent the pandemic from wreaking havoc inside the facility. The population has dipped and climbed over that time as officials continue to discuss solutions. About 400 inmates have been housed there recently. A coalition of nonprofit groups has urged the county to maintain a low inmate population and offered recommendations.

Vaccinations

Statewide, the next step in keeping COVID-19 at bay includes vaccinating inmates. The rollout of that appears to fall under Phase 1B, Tier 4 of the state’s vaccination plan and isn’t scheduled until spring or summer.

However, some high-risk inmates and staff qualify now under current vaccine distribution phases.

Bishop said inmates have been informed they can request a vaccine from a medical professional on staff, if they qualify under a current vaccine phase. That process is a work in progress; no inmates have received a vaccine, he said.

“We prefer to do them at the jail, because it’s safer, but we’re working with local hospitals, figuring out what inmates qualify under the current tiers. We’re following the community standard,” the jail chief said.

The Washington State Department of Corrections announced in late December that it had started vaccinating some prison guards and inmates at its facilities.

DOC Director of Communications Rachel Ericson said that vaccine doses were allocated to Larch Corrections Center near Yacolt from the limited supply the department has received.

On Dec. 31, the department reported that Larch had six incarcerated individuals who tested positive for COVID-19. That number jumped to 218 on Jan. 4, following mass testing at the prison the week prior, and continued to climb. As of Thursday, DOC reported a total of 281 cases among Larch inmates, with 63 new positive cases in the last 30 days. It also had 25 confirmed cases among staff. (The minimum-security state prison has a capacity of 480 inmates. However, it housed about 300 inmates in mid-January.)

COVID-19 vaccine data is collected by vaccine administrators at each facility and sent directly to the state Department of Health. Because vaccinations recently began, DOC has not yet determined the best way to make the numbers available for public dissemination, Ericson said, so no vaccine data for Larch was provided.

“Vaccinations within the state’s correctional facilities have occurred within the counties of Franklin, Clallam, Clark, Grays Harbor, Mason, Pierce, Snohomish, Spokane and Walla Walla,” Ericson said.

The Department of Corrections priority list follows the recommendations for doling out vaccine doses prepared by the CDC and Washington officials. As such, the vaccines are being given to guards and prisoners who meet Phase 1A and Phase 1B, Tier 1 priority group definitions.