COVID-19 update for offenders and their families: October 30, 2020
This content is a message to federal offenders and their families from Correctional Service Canada's (CSC’s) Commissioner.
I know that COVID-19 continues to be on your mind. The infection prevention and control measures that we have put in place are there to protect you. Thank you for all of the efforts that you are making – we all have an active role to play in prevention.
We currently have no active COVID-19 cases among federal inmates. However, if one of our employees tests positive, I want to assure you that we have protocols in place to ensure that any employees who are symptomatic or test positive self-isolate at home, and contact tracing and additional testing is conducted, as needed. CSC does not wait for a positive result to begin contact tracing; we start at symptom onset. Since March, we have trained over 250 employees to be contact tracers. Reaching out quickly to people who were in contact with someone who is symptomatic or has tested positive for COVID-19 is critical to containing any spread.
I want to stress that if you have any symptoms at all – even mild ones – please tell health services right away. If a test is offered to you, please take it. It is simple and quick. It helps to give us more information to best protect you and those around you. Being assured that the virus is not spreading is also the quickest way to resume normal activities.
Public health experts say that the best way to prevent COVID-19 from spreading from person to person is to keep a two-metre physical distance between people, wear a mask when you are around others, and wash or sanitize your hands regularly. All of these measures combined provide layers of protection. By doing these simple things, we help keep everyone safe and healthy.
Each year, CSC celebrates Diversity Week during the first week of November. Our inmate population is diverse with people who vary in age, ethnicity, religion, ability, sexual orientation, language, and culture. It is important to take pride in that diversity and learn from one another. As you know, there is an important conversation taking place right now about systemic racism in our society, including our criminal justice system and corrections. CSC takes this issue very seriously and is committed to doing more to remove barriers and make improvements to the correctional system.
Every year, the Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI) releases its findings in a report. We study the report’s recommendations and ways we can implement them. This week, the OCI’s 2019-20 Annual Report was presented in Parliament.
The changes to the Inmate Telephone System [ITS], which were implemented on July 24, 2020 have been extended until April 2, 2021. During this time, you will continue to be able to load funds into your ITS account every two weeks instead of every four weeks.
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