KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment declared the COVID-19 outbreak at Lansing Correctional Facility to be contained earlier this month, the state Department of Corrections said Tuesday.
KDOC Secretary Jeff Zmuda said the state confirmed the outbreak to be contained on June 1, and Kansas National Guard members finished their work at the prison on June 4. At one point, more than 40 National Guard members were stationed at the prison, which has been identified as the largest outbreak in the state.
As of Tuesday, there have been 926 confirmed cases of the virus among staff and inmates and six deaths, including two staff members.
Zmuda said with the outbreak found to be contained, inmates will resume some of their jobs at the prison, including those in food service, laundry and maintenance.
Visitation, volunteer and mentor programs, and non-essential private industry jobs will not resume at this time, Zmuda said.
“While we are resuming many activities, we fully recognize that this virus will still be present for the foreseeable future, so we plan to maintain the mitigation strategies that have been implemented at each of our facilities,” Zmuda said. “This resumption of activities is a first step to normalizing operations at Lansing, but one we will do with an abundance of caution and care.”
All inmates at the facility were tested for the virus in early May. The majority of those who tested positive were asymptomatic.
The Lansing Correctional Facility currently houses around 1,700 adult male inmates.
