WAILUA — A Kaua‘i Community Correctional Center employee has tested positive for COVID-19, a result which has meant a suspension of inmate movement and mass testing at the facility, the state Department of Public Safety announced Monday morning.
As of Monday evening, 73 inmates tested negative, according to the PSD resource page.
The facility was first notified of the positive test result on Sunday of the
employee, and implemented its pandemic protocol, PSD spokesperson Toni Schwartz said.
The employee last attended work Thursday, April 27.
Mass testing began Monday morning, and as of that afternoon, no inmate had reported COVID-19 symptoms, according to Schwartz.
“PSD does not have a timeline for when the test results will be received, but once we do get them we will make the results public,” Schwartz said. “The movement suspension and quarantine are in line with PSD’s pandemic plan, and were implemented to keep inmates, staff and the public safe.”
This is the first case reported among staff or inmates at the 130-bed KCCC.
The state Department of Health and its Kaua‘i District Health Office, with PSD, are coordinating testing and offering vaccines on a voluntary basis.
“One of the cases reported yesterday was in an employee at Kaua‘i Community Correctional, whose source of infection was outside of the workplace,” Kaua‘i District Health Officer Dr. Janet Berreman said in a statement.
“However, due to the risk of an outbreak in that setting, the Kaua‘i District Health Office and the Department of Public Safety mobilized a team to test everyone on-site at the facility today,” she said Monday. “We will take every action we can to prevent an outbreak in that setting.”
“PSD health-care staff will continue to monitor inmates and will lift the quarantine when they are confident that the threat of possible virus spread inside the facility has been averted,” Schwartz said.
•••
Sabrina Bodon, public safety and government reporter, can be reached at 245-0441 or sbodon@thegardenisland.com.
