24 inmates known to have COVID-19 at Surrey corrections centre

The Surrey Pretrial Services Centre is pictured from above in this 2019 photo.

VANCOUVER — Two dozen inmates have tested positive for the novel coronavirus as a Surrey, B.C., corrections facility deals with an outbreak of the disease.

Fraser Health told CTV News in an email Thursday evening that the outbreak at Surrey Pretrial Services Centre currently involves 24 known cases.

The outbreak was announced earlier this week at the provincial facility located on 57th Avenue.

The health authority said it is working with BC Corrections and the Provincial Health Services Authority's infection control team to manage the outbreak.

Fraser Health is also following up with anyone who had contact with inmates at the location who have tested positive.

They will be contacted directly.

The outbreak is not the first at Surrey Pretrial. Employees tested positive in October.

According to BC Corrections, visits from the public are currently being restricted in detention centres. Any visitors considered exceptions must follow hygiene and screening measures.

Staff are subjected to the same protocol, and no one showing any signs of illness is allowed in.

COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported at other corrections facilities in B.C. during the pandemic, including at the federal Mission Institution, where at least one-third of inmates were infected.

The provincial Okanagan Correctional Centre also dealt with an outbreak in the summer.