Maine prisons haven’t been broadly testing inmates, now they have a COVID-19 infection

With the first positive case among Maine’s incarcerated population reported Tuesday evening, prisoner rights advocates are renewing their calls for universal testing throughout the state’s carceral system.

The Maine Department of Corrections (MDOC) has so far only tested inmates who show symptoms of COVID-19, which may give a false picture of potential exposure inside Maine’s prisons. Mass testing in other states has revealed high numbers of cases. 

On Tuesday, MDOC reported that a man in his 20s at Maine Correctional Center in Windham tested positive for the coronavirus.

The news came just a day after Governor Janet Mills announced that, with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s expanded testing capacity for the COVID-19 virus, health officials will now be able to spot test asymptomatic people where they suspect the risk of transmission is greatest.

But people incarcerated inside Maine’s prisons — who are living in close, confined proximity, ideal conditions for viral spread, experts say — were not part of the state’s spot testing plans. 

MDOC said on Monday, prior to confirming the first positive case, that they are not planning to expand the testing regime. 

“At this time the DOC is testing incarcerated individuals for COVID-19 if they display symptoms,” MDOC director of government affairs Anna Black said in an email.

As of noon on May 19, MDOC had tested just 28 of almost 2,000 inmates in Maine’s prison system.

Risk of spreading ‘like wildfire’

“Once COVID-19 enters a prison, it will spread like wildfire, as we have seen in jails and prisons across the country,” predicted Emma Bond, staff attorney with the ACLU of Maine, speaking before the first case was confirmed. “COVID-19 can spread rapidly even among people who have no symptoms, so a symptom-based approach to testing will not detect an outbreak until it is too late. Mass testing of corrections employees and incarcerated people is a necessary proactive measure to help keep our communities safe.”

At least 10 inmates at Maine Correctional Center are over the age of 65, a risk category for COVID-19, according to Maine’s online prisoner search.

The Mills administration has prioritized universal testing of individuals in nursing homes and shelters. CDC officials have had internal conversations about extending that testing to group homes as well.

Outbreaks have occurred in all three of these settings in Maine. About half of those who have died of the coronavirus in Maine have been nursing home residents.

On May 18, Mills announced that thanks to the partnership with Idexx Laboratories — which tripled the number of tests possible in Maine, from 350 to 1,000 daily tests —  the administration could begin testing everyone in the state displaying symptoms, lifting the previous tiered system, which had prioritized testing for high-risk individuals and those with underlying health conditions.

“Maine CDC has informed health care providers today that we have eliminated these categories to allow for testing of all people in Maine with symptoms as well as some without symptoms. For instance, people who are in close contact with people who have confirmed positive tests, for health care workers who are in contact with a confirmed case, and people tested as part of our ‘spot checking’ plan under development,” Mills said at a press briefing. “This breakthrough will also allow the state to continue to implement universal testing in congregate care, congregate living settings, such as nursing facilities and shelters.”

CDC recently confirmed spot testing doesn’t include inmates

Following the announcement of expanded testing, Beacon asked Maine CDC director Dr. Nirav Shah if the administration was considering spot testing people in Maine’s carceral system, given the speed at which the virus spreads in congregate living facilities.

Shah said he talks with MDOC daily, but no decision has yet been made to implement wider testing. Federal CDC guidelines do not currently call for mass testing in prisons.

“The Department of Corrections I don’t think has made any final decisions on that, but we are discussing that with them and certainly, as they have individuals that are symptomatic, I know that those individuals are tested,” Shah said during his May 12 daily briefing. 

Shah has explained several day-to-day spikes in reported cases of the coronavirus in Maine as a result of increased testing in congregate living facilities.

“We know that when we look for things we find them,” Shah said during his May 11 briefing.

Spot testing ‘is not something we are planning to do’

MDOC confirmed to Beacon that broader testing was not taking place nor planned for the immediate future.

An overhead view of Maine Correctional Center in Windham | Creative Commons/Prisoninsight.com

“We have spoken with Maine CDC about protocols should there be a need to test more generally, rather than only those inmates displaying symptoms,” Black said in her email on Monday. “At this time, however, ‘spot testing’ is not something we are planning to do.”

Other advocates have joined the ACLU in calling for broader testing.

“With the expanded testing capabilities, there is no excuse for Maine to not have universal testing in every prison and jail, including Long Creek Youth Development Center,” said Al Cleveland, campaign manager for Maine Youth Justice. “Across the country, hundreds of incarcerated youth have tested positive for COVID-19.”

Maine Youth Justice, a youth-led organization, began publicly pressuring the Mills administration in April to release 30 young people still incarcerated at Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland.

Five juveniles have been tested by the MDOC so far.

96 percent of prisoners testing positive in other states are asymptomatic

Incarcerated people are at a greater risk infection for COVID-19 than the general public. Eight of the 10 largest outbreaks in the country so far have occurred in prisons and jails. 

“We have long known that people in prisons and jails are disproportionately likely to have chronic health issues, such as diabetes, heart-related conditions, and viral infections like HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C,” said Whitney Parrish, director of advocacy for the Health Equity Alliance. “As our science, public health, and medical communities learn more about SARS-CoV-2, we’re seeing that these conditions can serve as dangerous — and fatal — comorbidities for someone who is infected by the virus.”

An April 25 Reuters investigation found a high percentage of positive cases in prison facilities implementing wider testing. 

In the Arkansas, Ohio, North Carolina, and Virginia prison systems, where mass testing has been conducted, a total of 3,277 of the 4,693 prisoners tested were found to be positive for the virus. Of those who tested positive, 96 percent were asymptomatic, according to Reuters.

“Nationally, we have seen the result of ignoring prisons and jails: thousands of people have been infected — hundreds have died,” said Tina Nadeau, executive director of the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “Maine has a real opportunity to avoid a similar fate but we must reduce our prison population and test and retest everyone in order to give our incarcerated people a fighting chance.”

No word on change in strategy

Hours after Beacon sent an email asking MDOC whether there is concern that there may be asymptomatic positive cases in Maine’s prisons, news of the first positive case was reported.

As of publication, MDOC has not responded to that question or a follow-up about whether the case will lead to a change in their testing strategy.

“The failure of the Maine CDC and the MDOC to ensure that each incarcerated person and each staff person at these facilities has been and will continue to be tested is unconscionable, especially as we are nearly 10 weeks into this crisis,” said Nadeau. 

“The state of Maine is responsible for the health and well-being of all its people. This is especially true when people are in the care and custody of the state of Maine,” Nadeau continued, “particularly when the governor and MDOC have failed to act proactively to reduce prison populations to levels that would allow for hygiene and social distancing.”

Photo: Cells in the Maine State Prison. | MDOC training video