Covid-19: ‘My biggest nightmare’ says Waikato mayor after Spring Hill prison guard tests positive for coronavirus

Waikato District Mayor Allan Sanson is hoping the Delta variant of Covid-19 has been stationed at Spring Hill Correctional Center after making its first appearance in the area.

Sanson found out Tuesday morning that a staff member at Spring Hill Correctional Center had tested positive.

“I wasn’t surprised, it was probably one of my biggest fears that something would jump through the Bombays in our part of the world.

“I think we’ve been exceptionally lucky so far.

“It’s probably my biggest nightmare… the only difference with that, I’d like to think, is that it’s at least contained in the prison and its staff and not getting out.”

A guard at Spring Hill Prison in northern Waikato has tested positive for Covid-19.

Regional Commissioner of Corrections for the Central Region, Terry Buffery, emailed all staff shortly after noon Tuesday to advise them of the positive case.

“Last night [Monday] we have been informed that a staff member at the Spring Hill Correctional Center has tested positive for Covid-19, ”he wrote. “The staff member is fully vaccinated and has not shown any symptoms. It is important to note that no other site is impacted at the moment.

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The warden, who lives in Auckland, “worked at the prison during the day on Saturday, and that evening he was told he had a connection to a place of interest. He was tested on Sunday and has been isolated since.

“As soon as we were notified of the staff member’s positive test on Monday evening, we identified and contacted 23 staff who had close contact with the staff member while he was at work,” Buffery wrote.

“Everyone has been advised to self-isolate and get tested in accordance with the advice of the Ministry of Health. These staff will not return to work until they return negative tests and have been cleared by the Department of Health. “

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Chief Health Officer Dr Ashley Bloomfield confirmed the case during a press briefing at 1 p.m. on Tuesday.

“I don’t have the details… He was asymptomatic,” Ardern said.

There had been “rigorous record keeping” in the unit, which was manned by 123 people, she said.

Waikato DHB confirmed that a prisoner from Spring Hill Correctional Facility visited Waikato Hospital on Monday, however, he was not on the unit where the staff member tested positive.

“Residential environments are high risk environments. Ultimately, the people in this workplace are people who have had contact. “

Waikato will still go to Alert Level 3 with the rest of the country south of Auckland despite the Spring Hill case, but Sanson admitted to wondering if the positive case compromised that.

“I thought, with the sanitary order coming in at midnight tonight… are they going to come in and do it again this afternoon?”

“They probably could have taken over the entire Waikato area because that was one of the options that was on the table last week.”

With Spring Hill staff living in greater Waikato and Auckland, Sanson was aware that this scenario was always likely.

“It’s probably the only scary thing we’ve had – this movement of essential people who have come out of Auckland – given that Auckland has been the epicenter of the outbreak.”

In her message to staff, Buffery said urgent action was being taken.

“All the men in the unit where the staff member worked were also segregated for medical monitoring in accordance with section 60 of the Corrections Act, and they will also be tested by our health personnel. Anyone who has recently been transferred out of the unit will also be handled in this manner. Two men who have been released are contacted and asked to self-isolate and get tested.

“The unit will now function as a quarantine unit. This means that all staff working in the unit will wear improved PPE, including masks, gloves, gown and goggles when interacting with inmates. The unit guard room and shared spaces were thoroughly cleaned this morning, and this will continue.

“We are in regular contact with regional public health and follow all their advice. “

Buffery went on to say that they were “well prepared” and had “comprehensive plans in place to manage any risk to our staff or men.”

“This includes the precautions we have taken at Alert Level 4 to screen all people entering prison (including with the use of thermal imaging cameras), the protection of vulnerable prisoners, the use of PPE to protect everything. the world and the implementation of proximity sensing cards to help us. with contact search.

In a press release, prison director Scott Walker said all affected staff would not be back to work until they tested negative.

“I want to thank the staff member for doing everything right when they were first notified of their connection to a place of interest and for making sure we were notified of the positive outcome. of the test as soon as possible.

“I would also like to thank our staff for their professionalism and willingness to continue doing their essential work.

“The unit’s guard room and shared spaces were thoroughly cleaned this morning, and this will continue on a regular basis.

The unit now operates as a quarantine unit, meaning all staff wear improved PPE, including masks, gloves, gowns and goggles when interacting with prisoners. The detainees were also ordered to wear PPE.

“Since New Zealand went to Alert Level 4, staff are required to wear masks at all times inside the prison, and inmates must wear masks whenever they are in prison. outside their cell, with regular hand washing and disinfection. place.”

The prison officers’ union, the New Zealand Prison Service Association, is still trying to get full details of the staff member who tested positive.

President Alan Whitley has said they are unlikely to know much more until Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning.

“No one knows at this point and when the person may have been contagious even though they are contagious at this stage.”

He confirmed that this was the first time Covid-19 had entered prison.

“In Level 4 of last year’s outbreak, we had staff across the country who had it [Covid-19] but luckily at the time none of them worked in direct contact with prisoners or in an actual prison environment, ”Whitley said.

Staff, like everyone else in the community, are nervous about interactions around the place, confirmed Whitley, but were okay with correctional procedures when it came to trying to keep Covid-19 outside their facilities.

Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis said it would be a troubling time for many at the prison. “I want to thank the frontline staff who will be working every day as we try to eradicate the virus. “

Speaking ahead of the Springhill Covid prison scare, Sanson said he had “major reservations” about essential workers crossing the border to work.

Sanson was scheduled to meet with police on Tuesday afternoon to discuss how they would handle the Auckland-Waikato border.

“I just hope with a wing and a prayer that we make it out here unscathed,” he said. Thing.

“Ask me in a month’s time, because we’ll be very lucky if we come out unscathed here, given the versatility of this Delta variant. “

Sanson spoke with the prime minister’s office on Tuesday morning and said rural residents of Waikato, especially in the western part of the district, are eager not to have Covid in their community.

“They will be diligent in the way they operate and they will be very, very careful. “

As of August 27, there were 8,198 prisoners in institutions across New Zealand, of whom 4,517 had received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Among them, 1,122 are fully vaccinated.