HCCC Staff Cleared to Return to Work After Testing Positive for COVID

Hawaiʻi Community Correctional Center (HCCC) is clear of active COVID-19 cases after two employees tested positive for the virus earlier this month.

The two staff members have since recovered and were medically cleared to return to work. The first employee last worked on April 7 and the second on April 8. No HCCC inmates tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Public Safety Department.

HCCC suspended all inmate movement after the first employee’s positive test was reported on Monday, April 12. As a result, two jury trials were delayed.

PSD spokesperson Toni Schwartz told Big Island Now transports to court resumed last week for inmates cleared through contact tracing efforts. The only inmates who haven’t been able to go to court are the 50 who were in quarantine. They were able to reschedule their hearings.

There are 14 inmates currently in quarantine, Schwartz added.

PSD has not said what positions the employees’ hold at the jail or what type of contact they have with the in-custodies.