2nd Washington corrections officer dies of COVID-19

SPOKANE — Vaccinations started in Washington prisons this week while prisoners point to poor conditions, the Department of Corrections announced on New Year’s Eve the second COVID-related death of a corrections officer.

Officer David A. Christensen, one of 63 Stafford Creek Corrections Center staff members who have tested positive for the virus, died Tuesday, the Spokesman-Review reported.

The agency had received limited doses of COVID-19 vaccines by Monday that are being distributed according to the state’s Phase 1a plan. Elderly prisoners and corrections officers who work with them are some of the first on the priority list for the department, said Rachel Ericson, deputy communications director for the agency.

An Office of the Corrections Ombuds report published Tuesday found that, by mid-December, corrections officers were tired. During a walk-through at Airway Heights Corrections Center, where more than 70% of the prison population and 170 staff have tested positive for COVID-19, the ombuds office found staff members were working very long hours, often many days in a row.

After the Department of Corrections disputed a prisoner’s claims about lack of access to showers, toilets and clean clothes at Airway Heights last week, the ombuds report found many prisoners were concerned about the same issues.

Prisoners reported concerns about being moved to different units, cold and delayed meal delivery, delays in receiving clean laundry, “frustration” about showers and phone access, confusion about when or whether they’d receive COVID test results and a “desire for more clear and consistent messaging,” the report said.

Department of Corrections staff denied these accusations, the OCO report said.

Staff and prisoners in the Sage East Unit at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center about an hour and half southwest of Spokane will be some of the first to receive vaccines. The long-term care unit houses fewer than 40 geriatric prisoners, Ericson said.