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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado – A Colorado Springs mother is asking for answers after her son and hundreds of other prisoners as well as dozens of El Paso County Jail staff tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Jamie Fain’s son, James Hunter Gantt, has been awaiting his drug trial for six months. He has had his court date moved three times due to the effects of COVID-19 on the courts. The majority of those held in El Paso prison have not yet been convicted of a crime and are only awaiting trial.
Due to the pandemic, visitors are not allowed into the prison itself and can only talk to prisoners by phone or video conference.
Fain says her son tested positive for the virus several days ago and had to pay $ 7 for a nurse to visit him and for the aspirin and cough syrup he was prescribed .
“My son is going through a very difficult time. He has fever, sweats, hallucinations at night, cough, ”Fain said. “They are patients now, not just inmates, COVID-19 patients and we should be giving them medicine.”
Fain has spent days talking with other inmates about the conditions and calling the sheriff’s office, the health department, the ACLU, local officials and more, to try and get answers.
“I said to the deputy, ‘Is my son going to die in this? And if he does, I won’t put up with it. Can he join someone? And I don’t think he can find anyone, ”she said.
At its peak Sunday, 859 prisoners and 66 employees had tested positive for COVID-19. That number has since fallen to 148 prisoners and 19 staff. The sheriff’s office said prisoners who had previously tested positive had been retested in addition to meeting the required quarantine time, which reduced the number.
Denver7 also learned Thursday that all prisoners first received face masks on November 1. Those classified as special population were not given a mask.
In a statement in Denver, 7 the sheriff’s office said that as of July 24, it was only providing masks to inmates being transported to court or to the halls.
“I’m really surprised to learn that the El Paso County Jail only provided masks last week, when the evidence for the outbreak was overwhelming,” said Mark Silverstein, chief legal officer for American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado. “I thought the sheriff was extremely reckless in not providing masks until this outbreak got out of hand.
In June, the ACLU sent a letter to every Colorado sheriff’s office outlining a federal court order made to protect inmates during the pandemic. The court order stems from a May ruling against the Weld County Sheriff’s Office for its treatment of inmates during the pandemic.
He is concerned that the epidemic has spread beyond the prison population and into the community as staff members get to and from work.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office and El Paso County Department of Health said in Denver7 in a statement that part of the reason masks were not given to departing prisoners was related lack of personal protective equipment, or PPE.
Another problem is that the masks cannot contain any metal like metal nose guards because they are considered contraband in the prison.
“Regarding the mandate of the mask, we understand that it does not violate that mandate. Indeed, the prison serves as a residential area for inmates and the mandate does not include any language requiring the wearing of a mask in a residence. Inmates wore masks whenever they were outside their residential neighborhood, ”wrote Michelle Hewitt, of the county health department.
The statement went on to say that the health department has made numerous site visits to assess the safety and mitigation measures that are in place.
“The CDC’s recommendations regarding the care of inmates in any detention facility are followed by our prison staff,” the sheriff’s office wrote in its statement.
He says he’s stepping up cleaning and disinfection efforts throughout the facility, creating ways to strengthen hygiene practices and performing regular screenings.
Denver7 has also reached out to Republican Congressman Doug Lamborn for a statement on the outbreak in the prison.
“Throughout the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, my office has been in close contact with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office and other state and local agencies. In collaboration with the EPC Health Department and CDPHE, the EPCSO adhered to CDC best practice recommendations and guidelines during these unprecedented times. In addition, they implemented strategic mask-wearing policies, used daily health monitoring practices, and improved their air filtration systems to better protect those held and employed by EPCSO. “
Silverstein would like to see universal testing in all prisons, everyone wearing masks and social distancing as well as a reduced prison population.
“This epidemic at the El Paso County Jail makes it really imperative that all sheriffs in the state take a look at their prison population,” Silverstein said.
As for Fain, she just wants answers on how this could happen and what is being done to ensure the safety of the prisoners.
“I want an explanation of why we were told he was being taken care of when he wasn’t, and someone has to be held accountable,” Fain said.
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