TOPEKA, Kan. – Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) Secretary Jeff Zmuda announced today that one resident at Topeka Correctional Facility (TCF) tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, April 22. This is the third KDOC facility with a confirmed case, with the first cases reported at the Lansing Correction Facility and Wichita Work Release Facility.
The resident at TCF is a female over the age of 20. This female was recently admitted to KDOC from a county jail and was being monitored for symptoms in the Intake Isolation unit at TCF. In order to protect the identity of the person, no other information will be released.
The KDOC has been in consultation with officials from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) on next steps to address these circumstances. As a result of that consultation with KDHE, the following steps were implemented:
• The resident was moved to medical isolation for treatment of her symptoms
• KDHE conducted contact tracing to determine who among our staff and residents have been in close contact with this individual
• The Shawnee County Health Department conducted contact tracing to identify anyone outside of TCF who may have been in close contact with this individual and will notify those persons
• KDOC will remain diligent in monitoring other staff and residents for symptoms
“The men, women and children serving time in Kansas correctional facilities may be here because of past mistakes, but their health and wellbeing is important to us,” Zmuda said. “They will not be overlooked, and we are working every day to ensure that they are receiving the medical care and support that they need to one day successfully release back into the community.”
The Topeka Correctional Facility is Kansas’ only all-female prison with a capacity of 948. The facility houses minimum, medium, special management and maximum custody residents.
For current information on COVID-19 in Kansas, and to sign up for updates, go to the KDHE COVID-19 Resource Center at kdhe.ks.gov/coronavirus.