CSC releases COVID-19 update for the Ontario region

Correctional Service Canada (CSC) has issued a release today, Friday, Dec. 18, 2020, with an update related to yesterdays news regarding multiple cases at the Joyceville and Collins Bay Institutions.

CSC’s update shared the following numbers of active inmate cases in their Ontario institutions:

• 83 inmates at Joyceville Institution – medium-security unit
• 6 at Collins Bay Institution – medium-security unit
• 3 at Warkworth Institution
• 1 at Beaver Creek Institution – medium-security unit

According to the release, the inmates at Collins Bay, Warkworth, and Beaver Creek who tested positive were recently transferred from Joyceville Institution. CSC says the inmates who tested positive, and their close contacts, are being medically isolated and closely monitored by staff. Testing is being offered to all staff and inmates at these institutions and will continue in the upcoming days.

“The health and safety of our employees, offenders, and the public remains our top priority throughout this public health pandemic,” CSC said in the release. “We are monitoring this situation closely and diligently, and we continue to apply our infection prevention and control measures with heightened measures in place at each site. We are also working in lockstep with our staff, public health partners, local hospitals, and unions, to adapt our approach and take additional measures, as needed.”

This is an evolving situation that the CSC says they will continue to monitor closely. The use of rapid tests, as an additional tool, will help the institutions detect positive tests more quickly and take the necessary actions, according to the release. These tests are then laboratory-confirmed and CSC says they provide the results on their website, which is updated once daily from Monday to Friday.