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Cases of the rapidly spreading coronavirus B.1.1.7 variant more than doubled in Michigan this week, fueled by 90 new cases reported in an Ionia prison.
Of 157 known cases of the strain across the state, 91 are from an outbreak at Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility, according to the state health department.
Testing for the variant at a state laboratory confirmed 88 cases of prisoners and three cases of employees in Bellamy Creek. More than 100 additional prison results are pending.
The presence of the most contagious strain – detected for the first time in the UK – makes some prisoners and their loved ones wonder when the spread of the virus behind prison walls will end. Approximately 62% of people housed by the Michigan Department of Corrections during the pandemic tested positive for COVID-19. Of the current state population of around 33,000 prisoners, about 4,000 received at least one dose of the vaccine. Under state guidance for priority groups, all prison and prison staff aged 65 and over are currently eligible for the vaccine.
Dr. Adam Lauring, an associate professor of infectious diseases and microbiology at the University of Michigan, said the variant has the potential to lead to larger outbreaks than those previously seen in the pandemic if protocols to control the spread in prison settings are not stringent. .
“We have less space for errors, or less space for incomplete measures or compliance,” he said. “So the masks still work, but we need to make sure that people have them and fit them well. We need to do everything we can to keep our distance, which, of course, is one of the biggest challenges in a prison.”
Most: 90 cases of COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7 reported in Michigan prison
Most: The state cannot confirm that 115 cases of Michigan prisoners were reinfections of the COVID-19 virus.
A Bellamy Creek official was the first person in the state prison system to have the variant confirmed on February 8. MDOC then began daily testing at the facility. Inmates and staff are tested daily with a quick test. If the result of a rapid test is positive, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test is performed and sent to a state laboratory for sequencing of the variant.
The daily testing regime includes some prisoners and staff from Duane Waters Health Center in Jackson and the Macomb Correctional Center in Lenox Township. Before the variant was detected in Bellamy Creek, some prisoners with comorbidities tested positive for COVID-19 were transferred from the prison in Ionia to these facilities if they developed severe symptoms, said the MDOC.
Chris Gautz, a spokesman for the corrections department, said on Wednesday that no cases of the variant were confirmed in Duane Waters, Macomb or any other facility.
In Bellamy Creek, 705 prisoners tested positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic, and 332 of those cases were active on Tuesday. A prisoner died.
MDOC says that 122 facility employees tested positive for COVID-19.
The prison houses 1,613 inmates and employs 425 people.
Gautz said that all Bellamy Creek employees are wearing full PPE – N95 masks, lab coats, gloves – and are instructed to work in a designated prison unit in the near future. The installation limited the movement of prisoners, who receive fabric masks. Prisoners who tested positive for COVID-19 and their close contacts are housed separately in designated areas of housing units, said Gautz.
Tiffany Alexander’s husband is being held in Bellamy Creek and said that increasing the time in his cell, with fewer opportunities to shower and call home, has been difficult for him. He complained to her that he is not giving enough soap.
Alexander, 32, who lives in Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, said her husband contracted COVID-19 early in the pandemic and that his daily tests were negative.
“My concern is that we have a 9-month-old son that he has never met. And with all that, will he ever find himself?” she said, her voice trailing off. “That’s my problem. Is he coming home or not?”
Gautz said the department was reviewing information about symptoms among prisoners with the variant on Wednesday, and said it was unaware of anyone with B.1.1.7 who is hospitalized.
Across the state, active cases of COVID-19 among prisoners of the MDOC decreased from last year, when there were about 7,700 active infections at any given time in December. As of Tuesday, the MDOC had reported 930 active cases.
Overall, 25,039 prisoners tested positive for COVID-19 and 138 died.
The MDOC says that 3,567 employees across the state have had positive results. Four died.
In the large community, cases of COVID-19, hospitalizations and deaths decreased compared to November. Health experts say it is too early to say whether variant B.1.1.7 will become the dominant strain in Michigan and increase the case count.
Outside of Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility, no case of the variant has been confirmed in the large community in Ionia County, where the prison is located. The cases have been identified in Calhoun, Charlevoix, Clinton, Eaton, Kalamazoo, Kent, Macomb, Sanilac, St. Clair, Van Buren, Washtenaw and Wayne counties, as well as in the city of Detroit.
Angie Jackson covers the challenges of citizens previously incarcerated as members of the body with Report for America. His work is supported by the GroundTruth Project and the Hudson-Webber Foundation. Click here to make a tax-deductible contribution to support your work. Become a Free Press subscriber.
Contact Angie: [email protected]; 313-222-1850. Follow her on Twitter: @ AngieJackson23