Two men employed as guards at the Richwood Correctional Center located in the Town of Richwood died recently, and their families strongly believe that their deaths could have been prevented. Carl Lenard, 62 and Stanton Johnson, 51 died after contacting COVID-19 while working at the Richwood facility. According to media reports and family members, both men while working at the facility are believed to have contracted virus from detainees, some of whom has been confirmed to have the virus. The detainees who are under the authority of immigration agency ICE, sent them to Richwood to hold them until their cases are adjudicated. It is believed that the town entered into an agreement to house the detainees at its facility while the town would be compensated. Bur before any deals was made, town meetings were held that at times got heated, but the town’s alderpersons voted to allow the facility to be used. At the time of the vote, COVID-19 had not been heard of. But the citizens of Richwood were assured that “every precaution” would be done to ensure their safety, and ICE was responsible for the detainees’ care.

That no doubt will not bring any comfort to the families of Lenard and Johnson, who contend that those assigned to watch over the detainees allegedly were not given permission to wear masks. As of press time, the official cause of their deaths has not been from COVID-19 complications. The U.S. has over a million confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 67,000 deaths, and those numbers are expected to swell even more over the nest two months. There is reportedly not enough testing not done in the general population, which raises speculations that next to none in being conducted in the prison population. It is only through those that speak on the condition of anonymity that the public get an idea of what goes on behind those prison walls.

Now, according to media reports, guards can wear masks, and that protective equipment “is provided” as necessary. Questions sure to be asked to town officials could range from how are employees protected and whether any new arriving detainees have any coronavirus complications. Correctional facilities can become hotspots for COVID-19 outbreaks if adequate testing is not done at facilities like Richwood, which can become a danger to the people like Carl Lenard and Stanton Johnson who were only doing their jobs. There could a shortage of qualified persons to work as guards if prison officials are not truthful about their safety policies, and no doubt lawsuits will be filed. Legislators at the state and federal level needs to be more involved, if not there will be more Carl Lenard and Stanton Johnson.