Prisons commissioner: No covid, chickenpox outbreaks in prison

JENSEN LA VENDE

PRISONS Commissioner Dennis Pulchan is denying any covid19 and chickenpox outbreaks in the prisons, particularly the Port of Spain Prison. Pulchan said reports of an increase in either virus were false.

Newsday spoke recently with prison officers who claimed there had been an increase in the number of inmates at the city prison testing positive for covid19, particularly the delta variant.

Told of this, Pulchan said: “There's no outbreak in the prisons. There is absolutely no outbreak. There are 27 inmates who have covid19, out of a population of 4,600 inmates.”

On chickenpox, he said there have always been cases in the prisons and they are managed by medical staff.

Newsday was told there were ten cases of chickenpox at the Port of Spain prison and these prisoners were immediately isolated from the rest to contain the spread.

In October, prisons activist Debbie Jacob asked the public to donate sanitisation items to curb any risk of chickenpox or covid19 in the Port of Spain Prison.

Jacob said while prison authorities may say cases are low, her aim is to prevent any increase, given that an overpopulated prison provides the perfect conditions for rapid spread of both covid19 and chickenpox.

“It is not the matter of having cases, I am trying to prevent a spread. That is why we are so vigilant with sanitising. We are trying to stay on top of it,” said Jacob, who is also a Newsday columnist.

She added that while some of the requested items have been donated, there is still a need for 35 per cent hydrogen peroxide, which is used to sanitise cells. She said the aim is to sanitise six times daily, but it is only done four times daily at present. Port of Spain  also needs hand soap, laundry soap and hand sanitiser.

Jacob said while the prison authorities have a budget to meet their cleaning needs, they can spend well beyond that and still not have enough to prevent an increase in cases, and that is why she made her public appeal for assistance.

A prison officer told Newsday inmates from the condemned section have been removed from the Port of Spain Prison as a result of increased cases. Other inmates on remand were also transferred to curb the spread within the prison.

“The inmates now have to eat the prison diet because there is no visit and none of the vendors are coming to the prison because of the covid and chickenpox,” the officer claimed.

To this, Pulchan said, "We stopped all visits for almost a year, so that again is totally untrue. When service providers have to service our canteens, they do that at the Golden Grove Prison (Arouca), where our storeroom is. We have our trucks come in and collect items, which are then distributed to the other prisons.”

Pulchan said with a prison population of 4,600, there have been less than 100 cases of inmates testing positive and only two recorded deaths from covid. He said the prison must balance safety with security and some of the inmates were transferred to their own step-down facility in Claxton Bay, and others have been moved to other locations based on a threat assessment.

“We have been asking inmates to step forward and be vaccinated. Now, it is not compulsory to be vaccinated, but the Ministry of National Security provided vaccines for all inmates. However, only about 20 per cent came forward to be vaccinated.

"On prison officers, I know it is only about two per cent or close to 30 who are fully vaccinated. So we are asking people to come forward and be vaccinated and protect themselves.

"I can’t force a man to vaccinate. We ask people to be responsible and help themselves” Pulchan said.