West Central Illinois prison guards have been aiding Stateville Prison in Crest Hill in their COVID-19 fight. The Illinois Department of Corrections responded to a WLDS News inquiry on Monday about the program deploying guards and staff to Stateville where 5 inmates have died from the virus.
Lindsey Hess, public relations representative of IDOC said via email that for approximately 2 weeks officers from several Central Illinois prisons have been providing additional support at Stateville. Hess says the officers are completing daily symptom questionnaires and have been issued PPE for use while at Stateville.
The Illinois Center Square reports that 5 correctional officers from Illinois River Correctional Facility were not tested after they did a rotation at Stateville and placed on 14-day paid quarantine. A return email requesting the number of officers and the locations of where those officers have come from in Central Illinois to Hess at IDOC has not been returned.
WLDS News has received reports that some of the officers at Jacksonville Correctional Facility and Western Correctional Facility in Mt. Sterling have done rotations at Stateville. When asked about the testing issues for officers as well as the rotation program by IDOC yesterday, Governor J.B. Pritzker refused to comment saying that it was subject to ongoing labor negotiations.