In-person visits at Saskatchewan’s provincial correctional facilities resumed on Monday.
Article content
In-person visits to provincial jails resumed this week in advance of the end of Saskatchewan’s public health order relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article content
Visitations began on July 5, but other measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, such as continuous masking and wearing personal protective equipment, will continue.
“Corrections continues to work closely with the SHA to ensure the health and safety of inmates and staff as restrictions change. At this time, most Covid-19 protocols will remain in place, either in their entirety or they may be amended based on individual circumstances,” Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety spokeswoman Margherita Vittorelli said in an email.
The ministry enacted measures, including quarantining new admissions for 14 days, providing COVID-19 medical screening, isolation and quarantine of inmates who exhibit symptoms, enhanced cleaning and the addition of temporary structures in Saskatoon and Regina to help manage the inmate populations at the jails.
During the pandemic, hundreds of COVID-19 cases were detected among staff and inmates at all four adult jails and most of the youth and other adult correctional settings managed by the province. The two largest outbreaks occurred at the Saskatoon and Regina men’s jails.
Vaccinations of inmates against COVID-19 in the jails began in April.
At the federal level, the Correctional Service of Canada announced this week that in-person visits to its facilities will gradually resume.
Visitors to prisons will be required to book 48 hours in advance and will have to undergo a screening process and wear a mask during the visit. As of Friday, only the Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge had started to accept visitors. All other federal sites in the province, including the Saskatchewan Penitentiary, did not have a date posted for when visits will resume.
