TOPEKA, Kan. – Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) Secretary Jeff Zmuda announced Monday that one resident at Wichita Work Release Facility (WWRF) tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, April 12, according to a media release from the KDOC.
This is the second KDOC facility with a confirmed case, with the first cases reported at the Lansing Correction Facility.
The resident at WWRF was a male over the age of 40. In order to protect the identity of this resident, no other information will be released.
The KDOC has been in consultation with officials from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) on next steps to address these circumstances. As a result of that consultation with KDHE, the following steps were implemented:
- WWRF has two open dormitory housing units. The 113 residents from the unit where the man tested positive were moved Sunday night to the newly reconstructed building at Lansing Correctional Facility (LCF) for medical isolation and monitoring
- KDHE conducted contact tracing to ascertain who among our staff and residents have been in close contact with this individual
- Sedgwick County Health Department conducted contact tracing to identify anyone outside of WWRF who may have been in close contact with this individual and will notify those persons
- KDOC will remain diligent in monitoring other staff and residents for symptoms
“The newly reconstructed building at Lansing provides us the ability to isolate these residents, while also keeping them separate from the current residents of the old Lansing facility,” Zmuda said. “Moving this number of people on short notice is a major undertaking, our staff did a great job last night.”
The Wichita Work Release Facility, a satellite unit of the Winfield Correctional Facility, is an all-male, minimum-custody state prison with a population of 248 prior to this move.