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Overcrowded Hawaii prison that had avoided Covid-19 outbreaks in the pandemic’s first 15 months has been overwhelmed by the virus – with more than a third of its inmates infected – just as the state is reopening more fully to tourists.
The outbreak corresponds to a significant increase in Covid-19 cases in Hawaii County, or the Big Island, where the prison is located: There has been a 141% increase in infections over the past two weeks, according to a New York Times database.
The National Guard is helping with testing and security to control the outbreak at the Hawaii Community Correctional Center in Hilo, the largest city on the Big Island, where inmates started fires last week as part of a protest, defense groups said.
Public health officials have warned for months that correctional facilities across the country will continue to suffer from large-scale Covid infections until the vast majority of inmates and staff are vaccinated.
And because the average person only stays in jail for around 10 days, the virus was able to spread rapidly between the community and prisons during the pandemic.
The reluctance of inmates and staff in prisons and prisons nationwide to get vaccinated has complicated vaccination efforts, including in Hawaii.
At Hilo Prison, there are no exact figures available for vaccinations, but as few as 25 percent of inmates and 50 percent of staff have consented to be vaccinated, Lt. Gov. Josh Green said, who is also an emergency doctor, in an interview. The result, he said, is a potential spread of the community through inmates and staff.
“If there was a continuously smoldering Covid epidemic in the one place where very few people were getting vaccinated, it could reappear in the community,” Green said.
The prison epidemic has led to some uncertainty about the reopening. During much of the pandemic, travelers were required to self-quarantine for at least 10 days upon arrival.
But arriving tourists can now skip quarantine by showing proof of a negative Covid test taken within 72 hours of arrival. Starting next Tuesday, people will no longer have to test negative to travel from one of the state’s islands to another. The demand for hotel rooms has increased by more than 800 percent, according to April state tourism data, the latest available.
From Wednesday morning, 138 inmates and 18 staff members were infected in Hilo prison, officials said.
There are currently around 340 inmates in the prison, around 120 more than its capacity. Inmates usually have to sleep on the floor.
“It’s scary because what’s going on – I don’t think it’s going to be limited to this place, because it’s going to spill over into the community where the guards live,” said Kat Brady, a group coordinator. defense of rights. the Community Alliance on Prisons.
Dr Green said the state is considering banning unvaccinated guards from having contact with prisoners in the future.
He said correctional facilities were among the “last pockets of risk” for Covid outbreaks, and that the lack of priority to reduce overcrowding and increase vaccination rates was short-sighted.
“People are more inclined to spend money on ‘good citizens’ than on those who have gone astray,” he said. “But epidemics will affect us all. “
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