North DSM News

While much of the country is beginning to see improvements in the fight against COVID-19, prisons in Iowa are experiencing rising numbers of the coronavirus. 

According to the Des Moines Register, as of April 22, ten more prisoners in Iowa reported positive results for the coronavirus, which tripled the prison system’s infection rate. 

The positive tests came from a medium-security facility in Coralville.

The biggest employee union for state employees within Iowa demanded more testing within the prisons, in the hopes of preventing a widespread outbreak like has occurred in other states. 

President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Iowa Council 61, Danny Homan, spoke on the challenges of the testing. 

"We’re out testing packing plants to death and we have 2,000-plus employees locked inside our prisons and we’re not checking them,” Homan said. 

While correctional facilities have been yielding low positive rates, this could be due in part to the fact that small numbers of inmates have been tested. 

Inmates who have positive test results will be moved to isolated cells and where direct contact with staff is limited. The IMCC — the intake facility for Department of Corrections facilities — is planning on having more medically isolated cells and to restrict movement overall. 

"The members of the IMCC team have and continue to do everything possible to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19," Beth Skinner, director of the DOC, said in a statement Wednesday. "By knowing who to isolate, whether they are asymptomatic or not, we will be able to help reduce the spread at the prison."

Additionally, the DOC is working with the state’s parole board to ascertain which prisoners can safely be moved to facilities other than prisons. Over 500 inmates have already been given approval to be released to community housing or under supervision. These prisoners are mainly individuals who are serving time for non-violent crimes or already nearing the end of their sentences.