Several staff members and inmates at the Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend, sources tell CityNews.
Posted Jan 19, 2021, 05:35AM EST
Several staff members and inmates at the Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend, sources tell CityNews.
So far, seven inmates and seven staff have been infected. Approximately 240 inmates are in temporary isolation to prevent further spread.
Sources say two or three staff members were also sent home Monday as they were showing symptoms of the virus.
When inmates first arrive at the complex, their intake unit is placed in isolation for 14 days as per COVID-19 safety protocols, before being released into the general population.
However, the cases identified over the weekend were found within the general population.
“For inmates to start testing positive when they are no longer in the 14 day intake unit is very concerning,” says Peter Figliola, president of OPSEU Local 234, the union that represents staff at the facility. “Once the virus enters the institution, and we’ve said this from day one, we would have a very difficult time controlling it.”
Figliola says staff has asked for transparency and to be involved in the contact tracing process at the facility multiple times, but they have not been consulted. He says contact tracing at the complex is done solely by the Ministry of the Solicitor General.
“At the end of the day, officers feel like they are being left in the dark and have lost faith in the contact tracing process,” says Figliola, adding that he’s proud of the people who work at the facility despite a lack of transparency.
“They show up for work everyday and are walking into the unknown,” he said.
More to come
