An inmate in isolation at the Toronto South Detention Centre has tested positive for COVID-19 — becoming Ontario’s first confirmed inmate case in the province’s jails.

This follows news late last week that a correctional officer at the jail, which has a capacity for more than 1,600 inmates, was hospitalized and tested positive. In Maiden, Ont., near Windsor, a maintenance worker at the South West Detention Centre has also tested positive.

Union officials and staff at Ontario’s jails have been sounding alarm bells that it was only a matter of time that inmates and staff were impacted by the spread of the global pandemic.

The inmate at the Toronto jail is the province’s first inmate to be positive, the government confirmed Wednesday. It wasn’t immediately clear when the man was admitted and who else he had contact with.

“Upon admission, the ministry was made aware by local public health that the inmate was identified as a possible COVID-19 related case and was immediately placed in isolation,” Brent Ross, a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Solicitor General, said in an email Wednesday afternoon.

The Toronto South “has maintained operational protocols related to infection prevention and control and has taken all appropriate steps to protect staff and other inmates,” Ross said. “At no time, during admission or during the time in custody have the isolation protocols been breached.”

Staff have been informed of the case and updates have been provided, Ross said, adding there were no further updates on the Toronto South guard or the Windsor-area worker.

“We are confident that every precaution has taken place for this particular inmate,” Chris Jackel, a corrections rep with the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, told the Star.

Screening is underway at all of Ontario’s jails for admissions with respiratory illnesses, in keeping with public health guidance.

In the event of an outbreak, “institution officials take immediate precautionary containment measures in accordance with operating procedures, including notifying the local Medical Officer of Health, and provincial health professionals,” Ross said.

“The ministry is prepared to implement new protective measures for our staff and inmates, based on advice from the Chief Medical Officer of Health,” he said.

On Friday the government announced extra measures to reduce jail populations, something other jurisdictions across Canada are also doing.

Amendments to regulations were made that will allow senior corrections officials to expand the use of temporary absences and for the Ontario Parole Board to use alternatives to in-person meetings.

Corrections can now issue temporary passes beyond the current 72-hour maximum and “will avoid cycling individuals back and forth between the community and a correctional facility,” Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, and Sylvia Jones, Solicitor General, said in a statement.

The temporary absences will also allow for early release of inmates nearing the end of sentences, but they would be assessed to ensure they are “low-risk” to re-offend.

“Those inmates who have been convicted of serious crimes, such as violent crimes or crimes involving guns, would not be considered for early release,” read the statement.

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Warren (Smokey) Thomas, president of OPSEU, has been outspoken about the conditions in Ontario jails at the best of times. On Friday, he told the Star that three Toronto South jail workers were at home under self-isolation.

Enhanced screening and cleaning at the Toronto south jail had been “underway for several days,” he said, and public health officials were on the site Friday.

What unfolds at provincial jails and prisons across Canada in the days, weeks and months to come — and what measures are put in place to prevent and contain the virus from hitting many vulnerable inmates — is being closely watched by unions, governments and academics.

In response to the case at the Toronto South, Criminalization and Punishment Education Project, a joint Carleton University and University of Ottawa initiative, heightened its continuing calls to further reduce the jail and prison population through use of police discretion, bail courts and jail releases.

“The provincial Ministry of the Attorney General must issue directives to Crown attorneys to increase their consent to bail, including without sureties and less stringent conditions, with the goal of limiting imprisonment during this the COVID-19 crisis,” the project, led by criminologist Justin Piche, said in a statement. “Crown attorneys and courts should also immediately review the roster of prisoners being held on pre-trial detention in Ontario to identify who can be safely let out on bail with resources to practice social distancing and self-isolate where required.”

Several staff at Ontario jails have told the Star in recent days they are scared and concerned not enough is being done. One cited a crowded “muster” room, where correctional officers are briefed before a shift, and an officer not being told ahead of time before being asked to escort an inmate with a suspected case of COVID-19. Another concern is who is truly essential, as support staff continue coming through the doors.

Pre-pandemic, more than half of Ontario’s jails were operating above desired population levels, as detailed by Ontario’s auditor general. On average, Ontario provincial jails house about 7,400 adults, 71 per cent of whom are awaiting trial.

In-person visits have been limited or shut down across the country, with telephone and video conferencing filling the need. In Ontario, in-person professional visits were still being allowed, until Friday. The government announced it is “temporarily halting personal visits.”

In some provinces, including Ontario and Nova Scotia, low-risk inmates serving sentences on weekends are serving them in the community on temporary absence passes.

In Alberta, the Edmonton police service is encouraging officers to use their discretionary powers to reduce the number of people headed to jail.

Momentum continues to build online for free phone calls for those behind bars in the province. The petition, organized by the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project at Carleton University, also calls on Ontario’s solicitor general to free as many inmates as possible.