David Y. Ige

HONOLULU – All inmate tests at the Waiawa Correctional Facility came back negative.  The 77 pending test results were received today, and 152 negative tests were reported yesterday for a total of 229 negative results. Of the 98 staff results received, 97 were negative and 1 was ordered re-tested by the Department of Health (DOH). The Hawaii Department of Public Safety (PSD) Health Care Division is working with the Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) to conduct mass testing for COVID-19 at all correctional facilities statewide.

“This is great news! I want to acknowledge how hard the Waiawa warden and his staff have worked over the past several months to implement and follow through with their pandemic protocols.  It obviously worked to prevent the spread of the virus to this facility,” said Maria Cook, Deputy Director for Administration/Acting Director. “I also want to thank our PSD Health Care Division staff, the Department of Health and the National Guard for all the hard work they put in over the past month to coordinate and implement this broad-based testing program in our facilities.  We could not have done it without the collaboration of everyone on this team.”

The order of the facilities next in line for testing is still being worked out. PSD is also working with DOH and the Hawaii National Guard to coordinate the testing of correctional officers and staff.

The outbreak at the Oahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC) is contained.  All 29 inmate test results from DOH-led mass testing at the facility were negative. There are currently no inmates hospitalized.  There were three positive staff tests results received. Staff recoveries increased to 70 and active cases dropped to 37.

 

Total PSD COVID-19 active and recovered cases as of 9/18/20: 

	STAFF		INMATES
	ACTIVE	RECOVERED	ACTIVE	RECOVERED
CORRECTIONS DIVISION
HCCC	0	0	0	0
KCCC	0	0	0	0
MCCC	0	0	0	0
OCCC	31	59	19	288
HCF	1	2	0	1
KCF	1	0	0	0
WCCC	0	2	0	0
WCF	0	2	0	0
LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION
SHERIFF DIVISION	3	5
NARCOTICS ENFORCEMENT DIV.	0	0
ADMINISTRATION DIVISION*	1	0
TOTAL**	37	70	19	289

*Administration Division includes administrative services, fiscal, personnel, training and staff development and the offices under the Director.

**Numbers are subject to change as pending results are received.  The total number of positive and negative tests to date can be found on PSD’s COVID-19 information website.

• The inmate releases directed through the Hawaii Supreme Court (HSC) orders are on-going. There were no new releases to report for 9/18/20.
• All transports to court from all Oahu facilities are suspended through Tuesday, September 22. Video hearings will still be accommodated to the extent possible and as legally permissible. PSD is in constant contact with the Judiciary to assure the safety of all staff and inmates involved.

PSD staff continue to practice recommended precautions for the health and safety of the public, our staff and the inmates under our supervision including the use of proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). All facilities have been issued PPE and routinely keep an inventory of PPE for continuous distribution to staff as recommended in the Pandemic Plan.  Each employee has been issued several face masks.  Face shields have been issued to all facilities for distribution to staff as added protection. Staff have access to gloves and other protective supplies, available all over the facility.

For more information on PSD’s planning and response to COVID-19, inmate testing data, and information detailing the efforts made to safeguard the inmates, staff and public, visit our webpage at: https://dps.hawaii.gov/blog/2020/03/17/coronavirus-covid-19-information-and-resources/

Toni Schwartz
Public Information Officer
Hawaii Department of Public Safety
Office: 808-587-1358
Cell: 808-683-5507
[email protected]
https://hawaii.gov/psd/
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