Coronavirus cases flare at Hawaii’s jails and prisons

More than 1,300 inmates in Hawaii’s jails and prisons have tested positive for COVID-19 since the omicron variant took hold in Dec­e­mber and caused cases throughout the state to surge to levels far higher than at any time during the pandemic.

Most of the cases in the state’s correctional facilities are mild and are being discovered through mass testing efforts, said Toni Schwartz, spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Safety. The department’s Health Care Division has not reported any related hospitalizations.

The Hawaii National Guard was brought in earlier this month to help test hundreds of inmates at facilities on Oahu, and DPS has hired temporary medical staff to help at smaller facilities that lack infirmaries. But physical distancing and isolating positive inmates has been extremely difficult throughout the pandemic amid severe overcrowding that has persisted for years in many of the state’s facilities, particularly the jails.

There have been large outbreaks in Hawaii’s correctional facilities throughout the nearly 2-year-old pandemic, but the omicron variant is so pervasive that DPS is dealing with simultaneous outbreaks throughout its facilities.

At the Women’s Community Correctional Center, which houses female prisoners in Kailua, 137 inmates have active COVID-19 infections, according to DPS data, which is about 65% of the total inmate population.

At the Maui Community Correctional Center, 185 inmates, or about 57% of the inmate population, have an active COVID-19 infection. Since the start of the omicron surge, 250 inmates have tested positive at the Wailuku jail, which in recent weeks has held about 320 inmates.

At the Halawa Correctional Facility on Oahu, the state’s largest prison, about 33% of the population has an active COVID-19 infection.

About 45% of inmates are actively infected at the Hawaii Community Correctional Center on Hawaii island. At the Kauai Community Correctional Center, about one-quarter of inmates are COVID-19- positive, DPS reported.

There are also ongoing outbreaks at the Waiawa Correctional Facility and Oahu Community Correctional Center.

At OCCC in Kalihi there have been 408 positive COVID-19 cases since the start of the omicron surge. The jail has held about 1,000 inmates in recent weeks, but because the population is transient, it’s hard to estimate what percentage of the population has tested positive.

There are currently 143 active cases at the facility.

DPS didn’t have current figures for how many inmates are vaccinated, but the number of those getting the shots increased substantially in 2021 after a slow start.

In September about 66% of the inmate population was vaccinated. At the Halawa Correctional Facility, the rate was as high as 92%.

DPS said vaccinations also increased later in the year amid an incentive program that deposited $50 into the spending accounts of inmates who got the shots.

Schwartz said the jails and prisons have been implementing pandemic plans during this latest surge.

“The jails and prisons are doing the best they can to provide safe and secure housing during this pandemic,” she said in an email. “Overcrowding in the facility makes it extremely difficult to provide adequate space for physical distancing.”

COVID-19 outbreaks at the state’s correctional facilities have been a problem throughout the pandemic. In July a federal judge ordered DPS to follow its pandemic plan for protecting inmates, citing alarming conditions at some facilities where sick inmates said they were thrown together without running water and bathrooms, and prisoners complained that safety protocols weren’t being followed.

Overcrowding and staffing shortages have hamstrung DPS efforts to control outbreaks at its facilities.

Gov. David Ige, calling the outbreaks “alarming,” has asked the Legislature to approve more funding for health care workers and correctional officers. His budget adds 193 new positions within DPS, including 29 health care workers. The governor also inserted funds to help with around-the-clock nursing services and counseling, needs Ige said were brought to light during the pandemic.

The governor’s budget is being debated by the Legislature.