SALT LAKE CITY — One of the areas that has yet to be affected by COVID-19 is Utah’s jail and prison population.
But national experts say it’s only a matter of time, which is why corrections administrators around the state say they are preparing now.
Of the 2.3 million incarcerated people in the U.S., about 165,000 are over the age of 55, according to CNN. People in prison and jail are also more likely to have preexisting health conditions.
In Utah, no county jails or state prisons have reported any cases of the coronavirus.
The Department of Corrections announced Thursday, however, that all visitation and volunteer work has been temporarily suspended.
“These include Utah State Prison in Draper and the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison. Our department will reevaluate this suspension in two weeks,” according to a statement from the corrections department.
“Incarcerated individuals have been notified that visiting is suspended and we are encouraging them to continue utilizing the phone calls and mail. Attorneys will be permitted to meet with offenders, but only through barrier visits at this time.”
Additionally, the Utah Serving Time Cafe, a cafe on the prison property where female inmates serve breakfast and lunch, has been temporarily closed.
“We are continuing to implement strategies for prevention. Actions include posting fliers throughout our facilities on preventative steps and sharing information with staff and offenders. We are also implementing various screening processes for staff, intake, movement, etc.,” according to the corrections statement.
“As coronavirus cases in Utah continue to increase, please know that we have outbreak strategies in place, which include prompt medical care and testing, and quarantining or isolating staff or incarcerated individuals.”
At the Salt Lake County Jail, volunteer programs have been suspended for 30 days as well as jail tours and in-service training. But visitation was still allowed as of Friday.
“Jail staff is actively monitoring internal movement of prisoners checking and monitoring workers who travel in different areas of the facility,” jail officials said in a prepared statement.
“Early next week, the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office will be presenting our plans of action to the COVID-19 to the county team with contingency plans of action. We realize there are many variables concerning COVID-19 and we are actively developing different contingency plans to be prepared for a small or large scale impact on each of our public safety facilities.”
The Utah County Jail does not have a test for coronavirus, but staffers have added a series of screening questions for all new inmates in an effort to determine whether that person is at risk, said Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon. Some of those questions include whether the inmate has been out of the country within the last four months, which states they’ve visited the past two months, and if they’ve been in contact with a person known to have coronavirus.
Evaluations will also be made of any inmate who has already been incarcerated for a while who is exhibiting symptoms, Cannon said.
The daily population of the Spanish Fork jail is typically between 700 and 800 inmates, Cannon said. The facility has the ability to isolate a couple of hundred inmates. Jail visitation, which consists of communication through telephone and video conference, was still being allowed as of Friday.
But volunteer programs and jail tours have been suspended until further notice, he said.
Cannon said the custodial staff at the jail has been doing extra cleaning and sanitizing, wiping down common surfaces such as door handles and telephones at least twice an hour.
In the Davis County Jail, inmates are medically assessed before being booked, said Davis County sheriff’s spokeswoman Elizabeth Sollis, though that assessment currently does not include a test specifically for COVID-19.
“If it is determined that medical care is needed, for any reason, they must be seen by a medical professional outside of our facility and medically cleared prior to being booked,” she said. “We are working with Davis County Health Department and we have plans in place for isolating or quarantining individuals if needed.”
In the Weber County Jail, protocols are in place and contingency plans are being developed in case an inmate is diagnosed with COVID-19, accordion to a sheriff's spokesman. As of Friday, no restrictions had been placed on visitation.
Iron County Jail officials announced Friday that all on-site jail visits there have been temporarily suspended.