Chester County Prison COVID-19 Cases Holding At Just Over 100

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — Chester County Prison has reported more than 100 cases of COVID-19 since the coronavirus pandemic began and the death of a corrections officer last April remains the only one among either prison staff or inmates, the county reports.

In all 112 cases of COVID-19 cases have been reported at Chester County Prison as of Jan. 4. Of those 77 are inmate cases, and all 77 are currently considered recovered, according to the Chester County website page that posts information about the prison at 501 South Wawaset Road.

Staff in the prison have seen 35 positive COVID-19 cases and of those 30 are reported recovered.

The 58-year-old corrections officer who died in April lived in Delaware County had been hospitalized for some time before his death. The county reported the officer has underlying health conditions as well as COVID-19. The county has withheld the officer's name who died.

In response to the pandemic, the county prison instituted quarantines on its housing units, a way of forcing the practice of social distancing, the county explained on its website.

"We must take this step to contain the virus within an 'exposed' area in hopes of keeping it from spreading throughout the facility. Taking this action is consistent with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections’ current response to COVID-19," the county stated.

In addition to the housing-unit quarantines, inmate visitation has been closed to the public. All non-essential activity was halted last spring, including volunteer services to prisoners.

Attorneys are among the few encouraged to visit. They and other professional visitors may meet with their clients during regular business hours.

Global Tel Link (GTL) is the prison's inmate calling service. As in-person visitation was cut off, the company added one free five-minute call per week for inmates.

The county posted the company's statement. "GTL understands the impact that family and friends can have on boosting morale but recognizes that sometimes financial difficulties get in the way of connecting. In an effort to keep inmates connected to their loved ones, GTL will be providing an additional free phone call of up to five minutes per week, in addition to the current two free calls."

The Chester County Health Department's most recent accounting of COVID-19 cases countywide said there have been 19,787 cases in Chester County and 504 deaths. Chester County Prison inmate positive case numbers are included within the county's COVID-19 data, said Chester County Health Department Director Jeanne Casner.

State Correctional Institutions have not fared as well recently as Chesco's facility. In the early December surge of COVID-19 across Pennsylvania, the state Department of Corrections called on facilities to function in "cohorts of 8 persons" to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among prison populations. State Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel said the cohort size could be increased to 16 by Dec. 24 if data allowed, but he extended the limit of 8 until Jan. 4.

The nearest state prison is in Chester, Pa., where 168 cases of COVID-19 have been reported and there have been four deaths. About 12 percent of COVID-19 tests given in the Delaware County facility have positive results, according to DOC data updated Jan. 1.

The Phoenix State Correctional Institute in Montgomery County is seeing around 8 percent of its tests come back positive, the state reported.

An outbreak at the Dallas SCI in Luzerne County was reported in late December and by Jan. 1, 35 percent of tests were coming back positive, according to Department of Corrections reports. DOC data reported 502 positive cases at the correctional facility on Jan. 1 though some sources reported hundreds more over the weekend.