PEKIN, Ill. — Illinois Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, along with 17th District Rep. Cheri Bustos, have penned a letter to urge all inmates and staff at Federal Correctional Institute in Pekin be tested for COVID-19.
The letter sent Monday to Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal and Warden Dan Sproul came before active positive cases jumped from 313 on Monday to 353 on Tuesday.
“It just shows you in just one day — one day, alone, from the 14th to the 15th — the Pekin prison saw an increase of 40 inmate cases of COVID-19 that were reported. I just think it’s a sign that shows how significant this latest outbreak is, and literally how irresponsible the Bureau of Prisons is in refusing to do full testing at the site,” said Bustos.
At least 16 staff members were also positive.
The letter asks 12 questions:
- How many staff have been tested for COVID-19 within the last two weeks? Within the last week?
- How many inmates have been tested for COVID-19 in the last two weeks? Within the last week?
- As of today, which units have cases of COVID 19?
- Have all inmates in these units been tested in the last two weeks? In the last week?
- Is FCI Pekin doing contact tracing to find close contacts of COVID-19 positive staff and inmates?
- How many inmates have had close contact with a COVID-19 patient at FCI Pekin in the last two weeks? In the last week?
- How many staff members have had close contact with a COVID-19 patient at FCI Pekin in the last two weeks? In the last week?
- Have all close contacts with COVID-19 patients been notified of their exposure? Have all these close contacts received a COVID-19 test?
- Is the prison on lockdown? What internal inmate movement has happened within the prison in the last two weeks?
- Are staff who are working in units with outbreaks also working in other units of the prison?
- Have inmates in units that have COVID-19 cases interacted with inmates in other units within the last two weeks?
- Is BOP staff training happening in a socially distanced manner? What group trainings are ongoing at Pekin?
This letter followed a similar letter sent in October, after 74 inmates and three staff members tested positive. BCO ultimately rejected October’s request.
Bustos said the reason for that rejection differed between staff and inmates.
“When it comes to staff, it really does remain a mystery to me why the Bureau of Prisons isn’t testing. The CARES Act we passed many months ago in response to COVID relief had $100 million just for the Bureau of Prisons to fight COVID-19 in the facilities, and that includes funding to staff in the facilities,” Bustos said.
“So, my office has asked the Bureau of Prisons multiple times why they’re not using the resources to test staff, and they have yet to provide a response to me. In this specific instance, the Bureau of Prisons told us they chose not to bring in a vendor to test staff, and instead told the staff to get tested out in the community.
“That kind of approach lacks any oversight or followup, and fails to recognize the kind of risk that places on the larger community.”
The BOP’s reasoning was different for rejecting the testing of inmates.
“What the Pekin prison is telling us is, they’re testing close contacts to positive inmates. I can tell you this: if you have 350 cases in one location, it is crystal clear their plan is failing,” she said.
“It’s unbelievably irresponsible and just unacceptable they’re not taking simple action that would help protect the safety of the staff, inmates, and community at-large.”
Bustos said there is precedent for testing all inmates and staff. When there have been outbreaks at Thomson Prison, BOP has agreed to test all inmates and make on-site testing available for all staff.
FCI has a population of 1,114 inmates.
