Hawkeye Reporter

The Iowa Department of Corrections is ordering all its community-based corrections officers and prison staff to wear face masks to protect themselves from contracting COVID-19, but one union leader said that order is too little, too late.

One Iowa Department of Corrections officer from Coralville Prison has already tested positive for COVID-19 after guarding inmates for a week at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and working closely with a prison employee that was eventually asked to quarantine at home, according to WHO TV.

“Our members are scared, confused, don’t really know what is going on and they are worried about taking this virus home with them at night and giving it to their spouse and kids,” Danny Homan, president of the Council 61 American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union told WHO TV.

The Department of Corrections officers are exempt from the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, so the prison employee who was asked to quarantine at home is being forced to use their personal paid leave to do so, according to WHO TV.  

According to the Iowa Department of Corrections, that employee will have to remain in quarantine for at least 14 days.  

Homan and other union leaders want Gov. Kim Reynolds to address this issue because they are putting their lives on the line working in the state prisons.

“If they are not protecting the staff, they are not protecting the inmates or residents or clients, and if these staff aren’t around to supervise these people, who the hell will be," Homan told WHO TV. "You are telling them they are essential, they have to go to work, do this work at risk to their own health and yet you are exempting them from protections provided in a federal law.”

All inmates are now required to wear sneeze guards and face shields and corrections officers will be given three masks each, according to WHO TV.

The Iowa Department of Corrections released this statement on the matter, according to WHO TV:

"The department strives to keep our staff and inmates as safe as possible in this time of emergency. When one of our staff is exposed to COVID-19, we want them to quarantine for 14 days at this time, in order to reduce the likelihood of bringing the virus into the prison. The use of leave on this subject is very complicated, as we’re in uncharted waters as a state agency, as are many other employers. The FFCRA contains language exempting such job classes as healthcare workers, first responders, and correctional staff from provisions related to the use of leave. Our human resources staff are working with prison leadership to find the right balance of paid time off vs sick leave, pending on the type of exposure, and where the employee was exposed (work vs at home). In any scenario, employees are able to use sick leave before ever having to use vacation time if they are required to quarantine. In most instances, if the exposure happens at work and under certain circumstances, the employee will be eligible for paid time off."