Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 16, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A11 THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2020 ? WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM A 11 To subscribe call 204-697-7001 or visit winnipegfreepress.com/subscribe Our mission is important. If you're a subscriber, thank you for supporting the spread of reliable information. If not, please consider purchasing a subscription today. STRENGTHEN BOTH BY BECOMING A SUBSCRIBER TODAY. A STRONG MANITOBA NEEDS A STRONG FREE PRESS. You need us, and we need you too. I NMATES at Headingley Correc-tional Centre have been sewing 200 to 300 masks every day for the last couple of weeks to protect themselves and the entire provincial jail population from COVID-19. "The intent is to supply these masks for all inmates to wear when out of their cell," a provincial spokeswoman told the Free Press in an email. As of Wednesday, 1,874 people were in custody at Manitoba jails. Each in- mate is set to receive two cloth masks, which will be washed daily. While health officials have said wear- ing a non-medical mask in public may protect others from contracting the virus, a prison health expert said more research is needed to determine the ef- ficacy of universal masks within pris- ons and the wider community. "It's really important that it's seen as an additional step that may be helpful, but actually we don't know for sure," said Dr. Claire Bodkin, vice-chair- woman of the College of Family Phys- icians of Canada's prison health mem- ber interest group committee. "It's not a substitution for handwash- ing. It's not a substitution for physical distancing. It's not a substitution for testing." Manitoba Justice has advised in- mates to heed hand hygiene and distan- cing recommendations, but Bodkin said is can be difficult to implement those practices in a facility where a large number of people live in such close quarters. "There are some inherent risks in prisons and all congregate settings that you can never fully get rid of," she said. "The safest thing to do would be, from a public health perspective, to get as many people out of detention as pos- sible so they can self-isolate or physic- ally distance in the community." Local criminal justice experts agree and see the masks as a band-aid solu- tion to the health and safety risks faced by prisoners during the pandemic. "It kind of obscures the bigger pic- ture that advocates have been calling for the ministry to address around broader releases," said Kevin Walby, an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Winnipeg. The Manitoba Human Rights Com- mission has called for the early re- lease of vulnerable inmates to reduce overcrowding in correctional facilities. Walby said the province should make immediate release plans for inmates who are serving short or intermit- tent sentences, those nearing the end of their sentences, and those awaiting trial. He said the potential punishment of contracting COVID-19 while incar- cerated doesn't fit the crime for offend- ers. "This is a death sentence, so it's a dis- proportionate kind of harm to face for something like a theft or fraud or drug dealing," he said. Walby said the outbreaks in prisons in the United States, which he describes as "a train wreck in slow motion," should encourage local officials to act soon. "As soon as you have COVID in any sort of site of confinement with people who have compromised immune sys- tems, the numbers are going to spike," he said. "That's why it's important to get people out of all of those kinds of spaces as much as possible." Researchers at the University of Ot- tawa have started tracking the number of COVID-19 cases involving prison- ers and correctional staff across the country. So far the initiative, called Im- prisoning the Pandemic in Canada, has identified 161 cases among inmates and prison staff across the country based on institution reporting and media coverage. There are currently no re- ported cases of the virus in Manitoba jails or at Stony Mountain Institution, Manitoba's only federal prison. Corrections officers and provincial jail staff have started receiving sur- gical and cloth masks to wear while on the job. The Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union said the cloth masks are made by an offsite sup- plier and priority is given to staff who do intake work at jails such as the Win- nipeg Remand Centre. Michelle Gawronsky, president of the MGEU, said the union, which repre- sents provincial corrections staff, is ad- vocating for a faster rollout of personal protective equipment. "I'm hearing that there seems to be a shortage of hand sanitizer, gloves and masks and we are advocating very strongly to get that out there," Gawron- sky said, adding some provincial facili- ties have started screening workers be- fore each shift. "We are asking as well that that be done by a medical person, so that we know it's being done prop- erly." Bodkin said the health and safety of inmates and staff are equally import- ant during the pandemic to limit the spread of the virus in and out of jails. "We know that borders are really por- ous between prisons and communities," she said. "As long as people are moving in and out of prisons and jails, that's go- ing to present a risk to the community." eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca Headingley inmates sew masks for use in Manitoba jails EVA WASNEY WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The 1,874 inmates in Manitoba jails, including the Headingley Correctional Centre (above), will be given two masks each, to be worn when they leave their cells. Advocates say that's inadequate protection against the virus. NEWS I COVID-19 PANDEMIC A_11_Apr-16-20_FP_01.indd A11 2020-04-15 10:55 PM ;