California Men’s Colony in SLO reports first coronavirus case
The California Men’s Colony reported its first case of an inmate testing positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, according to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Out of five inmates tested, one came back positive, the CDCR said. No staff members at CMC have been affected to this point.
“CDCR and CCHCS (California Correctional Health Care Services) are working closely with the county Department of Public Health to conduct a contact investigation to determine what, if any, exposure may have occurred to staff or the incarcerated population,” said CMC public information officer Lt. John Hill. “That investigation is currently underway, so we do not have further detail.”
As of Saturday, 42 inmates have now tested positive for the new coronavirus persons at correctional facilities statewide.
Additionally, 77 employees with the correctional department and Correctional Health Care Services have tested positive for COVID-19.
California Men’s Colony is an all-male minimum- to medium-security state prison, with roughly 3,800 inmates and 1,800 employees, according to Warden Josie Gastelo.
Like the County Jail, the California Men’s Colony has suspended inmate visitation indefinitely and has restricted inmate movement and Unlike the county, CDCR has not said whether it is contemplating early release for any of its population, inmates who have all been convicted of felonies.
But a spokeswoman provided a statement from the agency saying that it is “continuously implementing proactive measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 to keep our incarcerated population, and the community-at-large, safe.”
“The department has made significant strides in reducing its overall inmate population, which allows us greater opportunities to evaluate existing resources, find innovative ways of providing patient care within our facilities, and to lessen the impact on our statewide public health care delivery system,” the statement reads. “Additional measures will continue to be developed based on the rapidly-evolving situation.”
A spokeswoman later clarified that those “strides” refer to state prison realignment “and all of the criminal justice reforms through both legislation and voter initiative that have reduced our inmate population from almost 150,000 in 2011 to where it is today, which is approximately 117,000.”
CDCR announced March 21 that, on the advice of public health officials throughout the state and out of concern for the health of victims, district attorneys, inmates, counsel and board of parole hearings employees, parole suitability hearings scheduled for March 23 through March 31 will be postponed.
“(The Board of Parole Hearings) is making every effort to explore all available options for resuming parole hearings as soon as possible and in a manner that is accessible to all hearing participants,” the statement reads.
This story was originally published April 11, 2020 at 5:46 PM.
