A COVID-19 outbreak at the Brockville Jail has forced the temporary closure of the facility, with all inmates being transferred to Lindsay and new admissions being redirected to Ottawa.
Inmates at the Brockville Jail have been transferred out of the facility this week due to a COVID-19 outbreak that has infected at least two people.
According to the solicitor general’s office, inmates are being transferred to the larger Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ont., where testing and a 14-day quarantine will occur.
“The transfer of inmates from the Brockville Jail will help reduce potential further spread of the virus among inmates and staff at the facility, while the facility undergoes a deep and thorough cleaning,” the solicitor general’s office said in a statement to Global News.
The Brockville Jail has a capacity of 44 inmates and is the oldest operational jail in Ontario.
The solicitor general’s office adds that any new admissions who would have come to Brockville will instead be redirected to the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre for at least the next two weeks.
“The ministry is supporting its public health partners by testing all inmates and staff to complete contact tracing and to determine any isolation and further testing requirements for high-risk close contacts,” the office added.
Leeds-Grenville-Lanark Public Health confirms the outbreak on its COVID-19 outbreak report, citing two cases in relation to the facility.