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How the coronavirus spread through one immigration facility
Source: Associated Press
How the coronavirus spread through one immigration facility
By ELLIOT SPAGAT
July 19, 2020
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Gregory Arnold walked into the warden’s office April 1 as the novel coronavirus ripped through one of the largest immigration detention centers in the United States. Waiting with about 40 guards to begin his shift, he heard a captain say face masks were prohibited.
Incredulous, he and a guard who recently gave birth wanted to hear it from the boss. Arnold told Warden Christopher LaRose that he was 60 years old and lived with an asthmatic son.
“Well, you can’t wear the mask because we don’t want to scare the employees and we don’t want to scare the inmates and detainees,” Arnold recalls the warden saying.
“With all due respect, sir, that’s ridiculous.” Arnold retorted.
He said he wanted to wear a mask and gloves, and “everyone else should be doing the same.” But the warden was unmoved. And in the weeks that followed, Otay Mesa Detention Center would see the first big outbreak at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 221 detention centers.
The origins of the outbreak are uncertain, but accounts of workers and detainees reveal shortcomings in how the private company that manages the center handled the disease: There was an early absence of facial coverings, and a lack of cleaning supplies. Symptomatic detainees were mixed with others.
-snip-
By ELLIOT SPAGAT
July 19, 2020
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Gregory Arnold walked into the warden’s office April 1 as the novel coronavirus ripped through one of the largest immigration detention centers in the United States. Waiting with about 40 guards to begin his shift, he heard a captain say face masks were prohibited.
Incredulous, he and a guard who recently gave birth wanted to hear it from the boss. Arnold told Warden Christopher LaRose that he was 60 years old and lived with an asthmatic son.
“Well, you can’t wear the mask because we don’t want to scare the employees and we don’t want to scare the inmates and detainees,” Arnold recalls the warden saying.
“With all due respect, sir, that’s ridiculous.” Arnold retorted.
He said he wanted to wear a mask and gloves, and “everyone else should be doing the same.” But the warden was unmoved. And in the weeks that followed, Otay Mesa Detention Center would see the first big outbreak at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 221 detention centers.
The origins of the outbreak are uncertain, but accounts of workers and detainees reveal shortcomings in how the private company that manages the center handled the disease: There was an early absence of facial coverings, and a lack of cleaning supplies. Symptomatic detainees were mixed with others.
-snip-
Read more: https://apnews.com/c37254edd0acb3738fa4e916c3f249c6
Gregory Arnold, a former guard at the Otay Mesa Detention Center, poses for a picture Tuesday, May 12, 2020, in San Diego. The early absence of facial coverings, lack of cleaning supplies and mixing symptomatic detainees with others preceded the first big outbreak at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's 221 detention centers. While the point of origin is unclear, accounts of how the virus spread at the Otay Mesa Detention Center expose shortcomings and inherent difficulties of managing the world's largest immigration detention system during a pandemic. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
1 replies
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