Union: Virus outbreak at Dixon Correctional Center also affecting staff

DIXON – Nearly 37% of the staff at the Dixon Correctional Center have tested positive for the coronavirus since the first case was reported this summer, another sobering milestone as the virus continues to spread inside the state-owned medium-security prison.

As of Wednesday, there were 54 active coronavirus cases among staff and 133 active coronavirus cases among inmates, totalling 187 active cases.

At least 155 Dixon prison staff have tested positive for the virus since May 24, when the first staff cases were reported, and at least 356 inmate cases have been logged since Aug. 30, when two inmates first tested positive.

That’s a total of 511 cases since the pandemic hit the prison.

The facility at 2600 N. Brinton Ave. is budgeted to employ 500 people, but before the pandemic launched in March, it had only 420 names on the payroll.

Based on those figures and data reported by the Illinois Department of Corrections, 36.9% of the facility's staff have tested positive for the virus.

Those statistics also show that among the 37 IDOC facilities to report outbreaks, DCC ranks third in the number of confirmed staff cases and fourth in the number of confirmed inmate cases.

An inmate, a man in his 70s, died from the virus on Nov. 6, Sauk Valley Media previously reported.

No DCC staff have died from the virus, according to a spokesman with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, the union that represents corrections officers and other staff.

“Right now, about 80 staff are off work due to a COVID-positive test result or are waiting for test results or are isolating due to COVID exposure,” said Anders Lindall, the AFSCME Council 31 spokesman.

That lack of staffing before the pandemic is being compounded by the number of staff not working because of the virus, Lindall said.

“That’s not only a threat to safe operations of the facility, but to the safety of staff, and it adds further stress to an already difficult job,” he said.

Visitation at all correctional facilities was suspended March 14, and facilities were placed on administrative quarantine with restricted movement on March 20.

Prisons with confirmed cases of COVID-19 are placed on medical quarantine.

Every staff member entering Dixon prison must pass a mandatory temperature screening and wear a face covering, Lindall said. He did not say how often staff members are tested for the virus.

Sauk Valley Media previously reported that inmates have logged instances with the prison watchdog group the John Howard Association of staff members not "actively or appropriately" using personal protective equipment, with the most common reported concern being staff not wearing masks.

JHA Executive Director Jennifer Vollen-Katz also told Sauk Valley Media that the “only way” the virus could have been introduced to inmates at Dixon and at other state prison facilities closed since March is through staff, who daily move in and out of facilities.

Lindall said he hasn’t heard about a lack of masking among staff.

“Anyone who sought to assign blame should be cautious, and recognize the importance of and the difficulty of the work that prison employees do to keep our prisons safe,” he said. “Doing that, short-handed and amid an unprecedented global pandemic, should be applauded.”

Lindall admitted that increased community transmission throughout Lee County and the city of Dixon could contribute to the spread of the virus among people who work at the prison, but only outside of the facility.

Within the facility, Lindall said staff are especially vulnerable to exposure to the virus because of the dormitory-style and community-style inmate housing.

“Preventing COVID spread to congregant facilities is very difficult,” Lindall said. “But once the virus has been introduced to a congregant facility – as we’ve seen with prisons, nursing homes, college campuses – it becomes tremendously difficult to stop its spread.”

Staff are working with a chief safety officer, or an agent of the union who functions as a mediator between the IDOC and staff, to present problems and push for improvements.

Since the CSO was installed at the DCC, Lindall said, there has been an increase in testing among inmates, which has led to a better understanding of how the virus spreads.

Even still, Lindall said staff need to continue to practice every public health protocol, like keeping their distance, wearing a mask in public and washing their hands, when they’re outside the prison.

“Working as correctional officer, you don’t have the luxury of remote work. And the folks who put on that uniform and go inside everyday to do a service that the state needs, they feel that pressure,” Lindall said.

“They also feel the pressure and have the same worries about their health and their families ... we need to recognize that sacrifice.”