First Jasper Co. inmate tests positive for COVID-19 as virus spreads in other SC prisons
An inmate has tested positive for COVID-19 at the Ridgeland Correctional Institution as the virus has infected over 1,000 prisoners across the state, according to the S.C. corrections agency.
This is the first positive coronavirus case of an inmate at the prison in Jasper County since a Ridgeland staff member contracted the disease in early July, the S.C. Department of Corrections website shows.
The Ridgeland prisoner who tested positive, first reported this week, was “housed in a contained area near only two other inmates,” according to SCDC spokesperson Chrysti Shain.
Both of those inmates were tested twice and the results were negative, said Shain.
The two “were not in the general housing units and had no contact with other inmates,” she said.
The prisoner who tested positive was sent to SCDC’s COVID isolation unit at Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville.
Prison staffing
Understaffing, a longstanding issue in S.C. prisons, puts pressure on state institution employees who not only have to oversee prisoner safety but now also have to try to minimize the impact of coronavirus.
Over 20 percent of positions allocated to Ridgeland Correctional are vacant, according to data provided by SCDC.
That’s 105 filled and 27 unfilled positions for a total of 132 jobs that are funded by the state legislature, said Shain.
“From providing medical care to mitigating violence to rehabilitating inmates inside prisons, the staffing crisis is a weight around the department’s ankles, resulting in high staff turnover and a dangerous work environment for those who remain on the job,” according to a 2019 report from The State newspaper on understaffing in S.C. prisons.
The problem makes long hours and overtime for guards even more difficult as they deal with the coronavirus.
Ridgeland Correctional’s staffing numbers, however, are better than other S.C. prisons.
The turnover rate for security staff at Ridgeland was 23.1 percent in the last fiscal year while it was 27.7 percent for all SCDC staff, according to Shain.
An 11th SCDC inmate died on Thursday from complications related to COVID-19, the corrections agency said on Thursday.
Positive coronavirus cases make up about 6.5 percent of the total prison population in the state; 253 inmates have recovered, the agency said.
This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 5:49 PM.
