Dept. of Corrections sets up hotline for families of inmates with COVID-19

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — The Idaho Department of Correction’s cases of confirmed coronavirus continues to rise.

As of Monday evening, IDOC had tested 1,817 people. Of those, 141 tests are pending, 940 are negative, 62 are positive with symptoms, 557 are asymptomatic positives, and 117 are no longer active. That means in total, 736 inmates have tested positive for the virus.

The majority of those inmates are at the Idaho State Correctional Center, a men’s facility in Kuna.

Also on Monday, IDOC had three staff report positive tests including two non-security staff at the correctional center and a staff member from District 1, according IDOC Director Josh Tewalt’s written update. Since the pandemic began, 76 staff members of IDOC had tested positive, but not all of them are correctional officers and some are no longer actively ill.

IDOC has also created a hotline, at (208) 658-2199, due to the flood of inquires from the friends families of incarcerated people.

“We have two staff members dedicated to checking messages frequently, and we will be tracking all of the inquiries and concerns shared through this service,” Tewalt wrote. “We’ll also be tracking actions taken and response times.”