YACOLT — State officials say more than 200 inmates at Larch Corrections Center in rural eastern Clark County have tested positive for COVID-19.
The Washington State Department of Corrections in a bulletin released Thursday said Larch Correction Center had six incarcerated individuals that tested positive for COVID-19. In the bulletin released this week, the prison reported 218 inmates had tested positive.
The prison near Yacolt has a capacity of 480 inmates.
State officials said all inmates who tested positive are being housed together to reduce the spread of the virus, which is standard protocol.
“As we move forward in the coming weeks, you can expect to see cohorting in the dayrooms and shower/bathroom areas, serial testing of our incarcerated population, and an increased awareness to Personal Protective Equipment protocols, cleaning, sanitizing, and social distancing,” state Department of Corrections Superintendent James C. Miller Jr. wrote in a Dec. 30 memo addressing the outbreak at Larch Correction Center.
Early concerns
Even before there were confirmed cases of novel coronavirus at Larch, inmates and their families were concerned about the facility’s ability to employ social distancing.
“There’s no social distancing. Once it hits the prison, it’s going to explode. It’s going to spread like wildfire,” said Freddie Deleon, 32, who had been housed at Larch since January and had about a year left to serve when he talked to The Columbian in April. “I don’t want to get to the end of it and end up dying from corona. This stuff is scary. People are out there dying, and it’s not just the old.”
A number of moves since the pandemic hit Washington in March put pressure on the state to take swift action. Columbia Legal Services filed a lawsuit on behalf of five inmates, arguing more needs to be done to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the state’s prisons. Earlier in April, inmates at Monroe staged a demonstration after six tested positive for coronavirus there. Then, the petitioners filed an emergency motion, fast-tracking the lawsuit, with the state Supreme Court. The high court ordered the state to “immediately exercise their authority to take all necessary steps to protect the health and safety” of inmates.
Gov. Jay Inslee issued an emergency proclamation April 15 to allow for the early release of about 1,100 inmates statewide, specifically those serving sentences for nonviolent offenses, or those related to drugs and alcohol.
Hours after hearing oral arguments in the case in April, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision rejected the Columbia Legal Services lawsuit. It found the petitioners had not proved the state is failing in its duties to protect inmates from COVID-19.
Around the same time, Larch officials did make changes including suspending in-person visitation except for attorneys, modifying inmates’ movements, closing the weight room and dividing the exercise yard in half so units can be separated. Staff set up extra cubicles to move people from top bunks. Disinfectant solution was made available to wipe down the telephones between uses.
This is the second correctional facility in Clark County to experience an outbreak.
Seven cases of COVID-19 were confirmed mid-November among the Clark County Jail’s inmate population. The outbreak happened as the jail was attempting to keep its inmate population low to prevent the virus from spreading, an effort that’s ongoing. The positive cases peaked around 40 last month but have since fallen. As of Wednesday, there were nine positive cases.
