SC prison placed under lockdown after second inmate tests positive for coronavirus
The Kirkland Correctional Institution is on a two-week quarantine lockdown after a second inmate tested positive for COVID-19, the South Carolina Department of Corrections announced Tuesday.
As part of the quarantine, only critical staff will be allowed in and out of the maximum security state prison, and no new male inmates will be accepted into the Reception and Evaluation Center, officials said in a statement.
Because Kirkland is the facility where new inmates are brought before being assigned to a specific institution, the SCDC has notified county detention centers and sheriffs that it will not be accepting any new male inmates across the system for at least two weeks, said DOC spokeswoman Chrysti Shain said. New female inmates are still being received at Camille Graham Correctional Institution, officials said.
More than 1,650 inmates are currently at Kirkland, which includes it the state’s main hospital for men, psychiatric hospital and death row. The prison is at 86.7% capacity.
Prior to the lockdown announcement, the ACLU of South Carolina and an international law firm on Tuesday filed a lawsuit on behalf of inmates with chronic diseases saying state officials weren’t doing enough to protect the most vulnerable inmates.
The department had previously been accepting new inmates but had shut down movement between facilities due to the coronavirus pandemic, Shain said.
As of Monday, at least 36 SCDC employees have self-reported testing positive for the coronavirus, prison officials said, including three that work at Kirkland. Twenty-eight inmates have been tested, with two positives and two results pending.
The first positive test at Kirkland was reported Monday — it was also the first positive test of any inmate under the South Carolina Department of Corrections. That inmate is a 69-year-old man serving a life sentence at a prison in Columbia, SCDC officials said. No details were released about the second positive case.
Officials also previously said all inmates and staff have been given two masks, and they are encouraged to wear them whenever they are in close contact with anyone else. Additionally, any patient with respiratory symptoms will be assessed by SCDC medical staff and tested for COVID-19 — if warranted, according to a statement.
Across the system’s 20 facilities excluding Kirkland, only critical personnel are allowed to enter SCDC institutions. Everyone has their temperature taken and is screened for symptoms, officials said.
As of Tuesday, the Department of Health and Environmental Control reported 4,608 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across South Carolina, including 135 deaths related to the virus. Health officials estimate there could nearly 33,000 cases in the state.
This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 7:41 PM.
