TOPEKA, Kansas – Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) Secretary Jeff Zmuda announced Wednesday that a lockdown has been implemented at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility (HCF) Central Unit after testing revealed additional staff and residents as positive for COVID-19.
In total, 84 residents and 10 staff tested positive this week. A total of 99 residents and 17 staff have tested positive since the COVID-19 pandemic began with five residents and seven staff having recovered. All of the positive cases are asymptomatic.
As with all positive cases, the KDOC has been in consultation with officials from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) on next steps to address the active cases at HCF. Additional steps taken today include:
- All residents in the Central Unit will remain locked in their cells
- Necessary movement will be done in cohort groups
- Essential resident workers in laundry and food service will continue to operate on a limited schedule
- Some residents may be relocated to Lansing Correctional Facility’s COVID-19 Medical Unit
“KDHE has been on site to evaluate the situation and work with us to determine the best course of action,” Zmuda said. “The measures taken today will help mitigate the risk of continued exposure at the facility, helping ensure the health and safety of our staff and residents.”
The Hutchinson Correctional Facility is Kansas’ second-oldest prison and houses 1,884 men. Formerly known as the Kansas State Industrial Reformatory, the facility has three buildings including the Central (all custody levels), East (low-medium custody) and South (minimum custody) units.
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By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — There has been a spike in the case count of COVID-19 in Reno County. As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, there are now 105 cases active in the county. The latest numbers are due to a cluster at Hutchinson Correctional Facility.
"They have been doing a lot of testing," said Karen Hammersmith with the Health Department. "The numbers come from a number that came back from their testing. I don't know a whole lot, because we're still in the process of investigating that. The cases that came in overnight, 53 of the 57 cases that changed on the dashboard were related to Hutchinson Correctional Facility. I don't know if those are inmates or employees. We are still doing testing."
Two other clusters also have been identified at Tyson in South Hutchinson and a nursing home in Pretty Prairie. Hammersmith said they may later be able to break the numbers out so people can know which cases are public and which are not, but they aren't that far yet.
"That is something that we may be able to look at on the reporting dashboard, to keep that separate," Hammersmith said. "I think that is probably a good idea if that's something that can be done. I think it would probably be a manual adjustment, but we could do that."
Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Dr. Lee Norman showed concern for what a spike at HCF could mean as one of his justifications for advising for the cancellation of the Kansas State Fair earlier this year.
"Once it gets into prison settings and nursing homes, sometimes those numbers can escalate, especially in a prison where you have so many people living in those close quarters. That's why you always want to watch any virus or disease process that gets there and try to make sure it doesn't have wide spread, but it's very hard not to."
This is the first day since the beginning of the pandemic with over 100 active cases at the same time.