Waseca prison has biggest COVID-19 outbreak in country

Brian Arola, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
·2 min read

Dec. 9—WASECA — Waseca's prison had the most COVID-19 cases among inmates out of all federal correctional facilities in the country as of Wednesday, according to data from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

A total of 132 inmates and one staff member at the 756-inmate women's prison had COVID-19 in the bureau's latest update. The inmate case count rose by seven from Tuesday.

The bureau, or BOP, suspended all visits to the prison until further notice in response to the outbreak.

An email from the bureau's office of public affairs stated the facility is currently in "level 3 modified operations status." Level three is considered the highest level of necessary modifications, triggering facility-wide face coverings, social distancing in all areas and enhanced screening for COVID-19 symptoms.

A few factors determine what modification levels are needed at facilities, according to the email.

"The three indicators include the medical isolation rate within the institution, combined percentage of staff and inmate completed vaccinations series, and respective county transmission rates," the email stated. "A percentage-based formula is applied to these three indicators and determines the level of modified operations."

Being at level three indicates Waseca's prison has a medical isolation rate at 7% or higher, and/or a vaccination rate below 50%, and/or a community transmission rate greater than or equal to 100 per 100,000 people over the last week.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed Waseca County had 246 confirmed COVID-19 cases during the last seven days. It equals about a 1,322 case rate per 100,000 residents.

While Waseca County is one of many COVID-19 hotspots in Minnesota — every county in the state has high levels of community transmission in the CDC's tracker — the prison is currently an outlier when it comes to COVID-19 cases at federal correctional facilities.

Waseca's prison accounts for about 47% of all active COVID-19 cases among federal inmates in the country, according to BOP data. After Waseca's 132 active cases, the next highest number of cases at a federal correctional institution is in Pollock, Louisiana, at 28.

Minnesota's other BOP facilities in Rochester, Duluth, Sandstone, Roseville and Minneapolis have a combined two COVID-19 cases among inmates.

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