Virus cases continue to spread at Westmoreland prison

As the coronavirus continues to spread among inmates at the Westmoreland County Prison, officials said Thursday there are signs that infections have started to slow at the Hempfield facility.

Interim Warden George Lowther said there are 77 inmates infected, with new cases almost daily. But the overall number of new infections has started to wane.

Since the start of the pandemic in March, the jail has recorded 344 positive tests results for the coronavirus, with most occurring over the last two months. Forty-one employees have contracted the virus. Lowther said those positive cases came from 1,409 tests, meaning the jail has a 24% positivity rate.

“The count is going down, but in some units, we keep getting cases,” Lowther said.

On Thursday, six units were still on lockdown, leaving inmates in those specific areas of the facility confined to cells and without access to general areas of the prison, while the lockup’s other five units are now free of the virus.

Nearly 450 inmates were housed in the jail on Thursday.

Officials have stopped accepting inmates from other jails and, since November, inmates have not been taken to the courthouse or district judges’ offices for hearings. Those are being conducted remotely by video.

Meanwhile, 24 negative-pressure cells built put in use late last month to help contain coronavirus cases are serving as quarantine units for new inmates, Lowther said.

Vaccinations of inmates and staff could still be at least a month away.

“We haven’t gotten any answers yet about vaccinations but we think maybe not until the end of January,” Lowther said. “Getting inmates vaccinated is just as important as anybody else here. They are in confined spaces where it can spread.”