Four Dead, 41 Positives For COVID-19 At Blackwater Prison, Hundreds In Quarantine; Six Quarantined At Century Prison

April 18, 2020

New data from the Florida Department of Corrections provides insight into the COVID-19 situation at Blackwater Correctional Facility in Milton and Century Correctional Institution.

As of Friday, there have been four inmate deaths at Blackwater, 34 positive inmates (including the fatalities) and nine positive staff member cases. Six inmates have tested negative and 11 are awaiting results.

There are 737 inmates on medical quarantine at Blackwater and 23 inmates in medical isolation.

At Century Correctional, one staff member has tested positive and six are in security quarantine.

The Florida Department of Corrections provided the followig definitions of “medical isolation”, “medical quarantine” and “security quarantine”"

  • “Medical quarantine refers to the practice of separating individuals who have had close contact with a person who has tested positive or presented with symptoms of an infectious illness to determine whether they develop symptoms. All inmates in medical quarantine are monitored by health services staff and receive temperature checks twice a day to check for signs of fever. If an inmate begins experiencing symptoms indicative of COVID-19, FDC will place the inmate in medical isolation and immediately engage with the county health department,” the prison system said in a statement.
  • “Medical Isolation refers to the practice of separating a confirmed or suspected individual with an infectious illness, to prevent contact with others and to reduce the risk of transmission. All inmates in medical isolation are tested for COVID-19 and are monitored by health services staff,” according to FDC.
  • “Security Quarantine refers to the practice of separating individuals who have recently transferred to a correctional facility. These inmates are asymptomatic and entering the facility from outside court, a community/work release center, county jail, etc. Security quarantine is a precautionary measure. Medical staff monitor these inmates to ensure no inmates show symptoms of illness. At the conclusion of security quarantine, inmates are moved to the general population.”

Comments

5 Responses to “Four Dead, 41 Positives For COVID-19 At Blackwater Prison, Hundreds In Quarantine; Six Quarantined At Century Prison”

  1. Kci on April 20th, 2020 2:02 pm

    The biggest problem at Blackwater is the Administration has to report to too many agencies. (GEO, FDC, DMS) All of them are giving different directives for what they feel is the correct way to handle this pandemic. Confusion and Chaos are created. The staff are doing something different everyday with regard to security, health and safety. It is very unsafe and lives are being lost. Good Luck!

  2. Jim on April 19th, 2020 7:21 am

    Kenneth: No inmates are tested unless they are symptomatic. There aren’t enough test kits. They certainly don’t “waste” a test on an inmate about to be released.

  3. Kenneth McDonald on April 18th, 2020 11:26 pm

    The question is, every week there are inmates that have served their time and are being released back out in to our community from this facility. I hope these inmates are being tested before they are being released for the health and safety of our community !!!!!!!!

  4. cabin fever on April 18th, 2020 8:54 am

    Are these deaths counted included with the “official” death count for Santa Rosa County?

    What is the “normal” death rate in a prison such as this?

  5. Northendbratt on April 18th, 2020 8:11 am

    This is a population we can look at. We can see from this one group how Covid 19 works/spreads through a population/neighhood/town/city/state.You get my drift? We have not been to Pensacola or Mobile since this virus poked it’s HEAD up around the middle of December, if the big towns are anything like it is on the northend,it’s a miracle we’re not already wiped out.If you have not read Stephen Kings The Stand, now is a good time while you’re in quarantine…

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News