Information on COVID-19 outbreaks in NSW Correctional Centres

31/08/2021

Current update

Corrective Services New South Wales have provided the Association with the following advice.

There was a state-wide lockdown involving all correctional centres yesterday. This action was taken as a precaution on receipt of advice that there was evidence of transmission of COVID within Parklea in the general prison population. This issue has been widely reported in the media. The state-wide lockdown was to identify and undertake testing on any prisoner who had transferred from Parklea to other centres during the period of risk. Contact tracing to identify any person who may have been in close contact with a prisoner transferred from Parklea was also undertaken and testing has been initiated for these individuals that included any cell-mates. All non-medical movements were cancelled.

The majority of the testing has been completed with no positive results and Centres are being re-opened as soon as they are cleared.

As of today, the following centres have returned to normal operations but with limited essential movements:

• The Compulsory Drug Treatment Correctional Centre (CDTCC)
• Clarence
• Emu Plains
• Glen Innes
• The High Risk Management Correctional Centre (HRMCC)
• Hunter
• Macquarie
• Mannus
• Mary Wade
• The Special Purpose Centre (SPC) at Long Bay
• Tamworth

CSNSW reinforced its obligations to ensure inmates appear in court and AVL via a broadcast this morning. CSNSW is adapting to meet the challenge of COVID and working on clearer guidelines for staff in relation to facilitating court, AVL and legal visits for inmates in isolation.

CSNSW advises that it is taking every precaution to protect staff and inmates, and prevent transmission of the virus.

Rapid antigen screening has been introduced for staff and inmates.

CSNSW will continue to follow the expert advice of NSW Health and the Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network in its decision-making processes.

This is a brief update of key measures taken yesterday and is not an exhaustive list of Corrective Services COVID-19 measures.

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