Southeast Correctional Center employee tests positive for COVID-19

A member of the Southeast Correctional Center team has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a weekend message from Missouri Department of Corrections director Anne Precythe.

The prison employee had last entered the Charleston, Missouri, facility April 7, and he is currently in quarantine, Precythe stated.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Department of Corrections website for COVID-19 information stated the employee “did not have close contact with offenders” and staff members who had close contact with the employee have been quarantined.

In a Facebook post Monday night, the Mississippi County Health Department noted the prison employee who tested positive is not a resident of Mississippi County.

“This is the only COVID-19 positive test result among staff or offenders at SECC,” Precythe stated in her weekend message.

According to the message, it is also the only case of COVID-19 in which an institutional staff member worked in a facility within 14 days of testing positive.

The Southeast Correctional Center employee is the seventh Missouri Department of Corrections employee to have tested positive for COVID-19.

The first Department of Corrections positive case was announced March 27 and involved a Northwest Missouri probation and parole team member receiving treatment in an area hospital after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Later that week, Precythe issued messages disclosing her department’s second, third and fourth COVID-19 positive employees — a Jefferson City office team member, a Kansas City probation and parole team member and a St. Louis probation and parole team member, respectively.

On April 3, the director stated a staff member at Algoa Correctional Center in Jefferson City became the fifth Department of Corrections employee to have tested positive for the virus.

The employee had been on “unrelated leave” for 21 days, the message stated, and the Jefferson City prison staff member last entered the facility March 12.

According to the department’s website, he had no direct contact with offenders or staff during the 14-day period preceding his positive test.

In a message last week, Precythe disclosed the sixth Missouri Department of Corrections case involving a non-prison Missouri Vocational Enterprises staff member who tested positive April 7.

Protecting offenders

Preventative measures were implemented in Missouri prison systems in early March to minimize the spread of the coronavirus, and a 30-day suspension of all offender visitations was announced in a March 12 news release.

A second news release was issued the next day with additional details of departmental efforts to contain the spread of the virus, followed by various, smaller changes to improve the effectiveness of containment efforts.

A full list of the mitigation protocols can be found at www.doc.mo.gov/media-center/newsroom/covid-19, the Missouri Department of Corrections page for COVID-19 information.

The department announced the first reported case of COVID-19 among Missouri Department of Corrections offenders in a March 23 news release, which stated the offender to have tested positive after being in isolation since March 4.

According to the department’s website, the offender tested positive while already hospitalized in Kansas City with other medical conditions, but he had no direct contact with offenders or staff during the 14-day period preceding his positive test.

“Protecting the health, safety and security of our staff, offenders and the public remains our top priority, and the department continues to take precautions to mitigate the potential spread of the virus,” the March 23 release stated.

He later tested negative twice and remained hospitalized with multiple medical conditions, and he died April 2 in the hospital.

Gov. Mike Parson mentioned the patient in a March 31 news release, which also stated the following procedures being in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in state prisons.

• Suspended offender visits as of March 12
• Suspended offender transfers among facilities
• Screening all offenders on intake
• Screening all staff and others entering a facility
• Strict sanitation schedule and guidelines at every prison
• Ample cleaning supplies at every prison
• Around-the-clock on-site medical care at every prison
• Isolation cells, wings and units identified for use, if needed, at every prison

Throughout the state, a total of about 11,000 correctional employees supervise about 27,000 people in institutions and 62,000 on probation and parole, according to the Missouri Department of Corrections website.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the website stated there are no cases of COVID-19 among offenders inside any Missouri Department of Corrections facility. A total of 47 inmates were reported to have been tested.