# 612
Today we get a glimpse at how prison authorities in Canada intend to deal with a pandemic. This article is from the Kingston Whig-Standard.
By Frank Armstrong
Local News - Saturday, March 31, 2007
Whig-Standard Staff Writer
Canada’s federal prisons are preparing to become quarantined no-go zones where visitors could be prohibited and staff could be kept inside for several weeks as part of a plan to deal with a global avian flu pandemic.
Documents obtained through Access to Information law show the Kingston area’s federal penitentiaries have made extensive preparations to quarantine inmates, house staff and stockpile food for up to six weeks in the event of a flu pandemic reaching this region.
The documents detail security and food services contingency plans that will be implemented as a pandemic spreads across the country, the province, and eventually into prisons.
“We’re ready for any possible threat of a pandemic and we’re ready in our institutions,” Suzanne Leclerc, a spokeswoman for the Correctional Service of Canada, said yesterday.
It’s estimated that a flu pandemic would infect 35 per cent of staff and inmates. About 15 per cent of inmates would become so sick that they would become bedridden, the prison preparedness and response plans say.
According to the Correctional Service of Canada website, there are about 2,300 inmates in the Kingston area’s eight institutions.
At maximum-security Kingston Penitentiary, all incoming inmates will be quarantined on one of the ranges for at least 72 hours before being transferred to the general prison population.
Outgoing prisoners will return to the range for 72 hours to determine if they have any flu symptoms before they’re released.
One can't help but wonder how well the employees at these prisons will take to the idea of being sequestered for weeks inside the prison during a pandemic. No mention is made of this being a voluntary assignment.
The idea is not new, and has been suggested for other venues such as hospitals and power plants. But it may turn out to be optimistic to expect employees, particularly those with families to care for, to willingly remain on the job for weeks or months and let their families fend for themselves.
From the article:
Leclerc said she didn’t know how long prison staff would have to remain inside, but said their confinement could last as long as the quarantine.
“I couldn’t specify, but it’s possible they could stay up to six weeks,” she said.
The rest of the article is worth reading, and gives ample detail on how food will be rationed, and warns that some inmates may not be released on schedule during a pandemic.
It's good that prison authorities have a plan. And even better that they are stockpiling food and supplies.
As to whether their plan will work?
I guess we will just have to wait and see.
