The public is being advised that established lines of communication remain open to get COVID 19 related information on relatives housed at the nation’s remand and correctional centres.  This includes the Horizon Adult Remand Centre and the South Camp Adult Correctional Centre, which featured in the media recently.

Centre Update – Horizon Adult

The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) reported 5 positive tests from seven swabs ordered by the Doctor on duty.  There have been no new positive tests recorded since this announcement and testing, containment and preventative protocols remain in force to manage the outbreak.

Centre Update – South Camp Adult

The South Camp Adult Correctional Centre identified one staff member as being a confirmed positive case.  Centre protocols necessitated the isolation, testing and further investigation of one staff member and four (4) inmates who presented with respiratory issues, though they were not known contacts of any positive case.  All five tests have since returned negative.

Director, Medical Services at the DCS, Dr. Donna – Michelle Royer-Powe advised that “Owing to an abundance of caution, the Doctors on Duty at our correctional centres have been ordering swabs to be taken as pre-emptive steps aligned to protocols already in effect across the DCS,” Dr. Royer-Powe confirmed.  “This mode of operation is the reason the DCS has been effective in preventing the coronavirus for over six months, with Horizon being the only facility to date recording positive cases within its inmate population,” she continued.

Hotline Numbers for Relatives of Inmates and Wards

The Department remains mindful of the concerns of relative and friends of inmates and wards during this period of uncertainty.  Accordingly, special hotlines have been opened to allow family members to query COVID 19 related matters only between the hours of 9:00 am and 2:00 pm on weekdays at:  (876) 214 3496 and (876) 788 8093.

Relatives seeking to schedule appointments to speak with relatives may do so at the contact numbers listed below:

“We are also using the opportunity to remind relatives of our inmate/ward population to visit our social media channels for information posted on how to make deposits to tuck shop cards,” said the DCS Director, Corporate Communications and Public Relations, Leslie-Ann Brown.  “On Instagram, you may visit @DCS_Jamaica and on Facebook @DepartmentOfCorrectionalServicesJamaica.”