There has been an outbreak of swine flu at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre.
“We have two confirmed cases so far,” said Justice Department spokesperson Dan Cable.
“Other tests have been done, but we haven’t received the results back at this moment.”
The correctional centre has been planning for a possible H1N1 outbreak since June, says Cable.
However, an infected inmate who contacted the News on Friday morning said the room they were isolated in was dirty and they haven’t been receiving proper treatment.
“People are sick here,” said Philippe Lamarche.
“And there’s no supervision, no medical staff here and the last time someone came to check on us was at, like, four in the morning.
“We’re getting medication now that they’re saying is supposed to take 48 hours, but that started three days after we first got sick.”
As of this morning, four of the centre’s 81 prisoners were being isolated.
Having outbreaks of various illnesses at correctional centres is nothing new, said Cable.
The infected inmates have been issued masks and will be given fresh air, but will not be mixing with the other inmates.
So far, two staffers have been sent home because they were symptomatic.
The correctional centre will be issuing Tamiflu to all inmates who are exhibiting symptoms.
“We’re doing everything that we can to contain the outbreak and we’ll continue to do so,” said Cable.
The correctional centre began inoculating both staff and inmates on Thursday and will offer the vaccination again on November 5.
There’s been a lot of interest among prisoners in getting their vaccinations.
But because the prison population changes daily, it’s hard to vaccinate everyone.
The correctional centre is now offering the vaccine to all new inmates.
Contact Chris Oke at
chriso@yukon-news.com