All HCCC Inmates Cleared of COVID-19

There are no active COVID-19 cases among inmates at Hawai‘i Community Correctional Center as of Thursday, July 1. This is the first time in over a month that no new cases were reported after the outbreak was detected in May.

The Public Safety Department (PSD) announced the last two remaining active cases at the Hilo jail have recovered. There is currently one active case among staff.

“The Department of Health (DOH) and HCCC’s health care and security staff continue to conduct mass testing at the facility to make sure the virus is contained but hearing the ‘all clear,’ as of today, is definitely good news,” said Tommy Johnson, Department of Public Safety (PSD) Deputy Director for Corrections. “I want to thank DOH and our facility staff for working so hard to mitigate spread of the virus and for bringing this outbreak under control. I also want to thank the Kulani Correctional Facility for sending their staff and resources to help alleviate some of the strain caused by this outbreak.”

Virus introduction into a transient community, such as the jail population, is still a concern, said PSD Director Max Otani, but he’s confident the facilities will continue to be vigilant with their mitigation efforts.

“I also want to extend a thank you to Hawai‘i County Mayor Mitch Roth and State Judiciary 3rd Circuit Chief Judge Robert Kim for reaching out to PSD to provide assistance. Their support and cooperation was, and still is, instrumental in our efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 virus,” Otani added.

COVID-19 testing is continuously being conducted statewide at all facilities. The latest testing results received for other facilities are below:

• O‘ahu Community Correctional Center – 25 negative inmate test results
• Halawa Correctional Facility – 9 negative inmate test results and 11 negative staff results
• Kaua‘i Community Correctional Center – 2 negative inmate test result
• Women’s Community Correctional Center – 1 negative inmate test result

PSD continues to encourage all staff and inmates to voluntarily get tested and receive the COVID vaccination.

For PSD’s Pandemic Plan and more information on PSD’s planning and response to COVID-19, inmate testing data, and information detailing the efforts made to safeguard the inmates, staff and public, click here.