The employee works at the Bordeaux prison full-time. We are protecting his identity because he says he is afraid of losing his job for telling his story.
The infected employee confides
It all begins in February in one of the prison wings, when a prisoner is sick. He is coughing and spitting, he has symptoms of tuberculosis. For more than two months, he is kept in his cell, while contagious droplets circulate in the air.
On May 7, his case became more complicated. He was taken to hospital. That’s when the diagnosis was made. Ten days later, a note was sent to employees, confirming that a sick person had been contagious for several weeks. The worker wondered why more restrictive measures had not been imposed on everyone subsequently.
“At first, public health and our managers were reassuring. But as the days went by, the concern grew. No clear procedure was put in place.”
Authorities tested some employees and inmates in May, but reportedly did not test all employees. About twenty were found to be positive, most of them latent, meaning they were not contagious.
Prison nurses were not screened.
“We denounce the employer’s laxity in the systematic screening of employees for the simple reason that the risk of contamination by droplets is high,” said Isabelle Roy, from the Fédération interprofessionnelle du Québec union.
Dr. Benoît Corriveau, who is responsible for the case at the public health department, explains that tuberculosis is less contagious than some other respiratory diseases and that screening all prison employees was not necessary.
“Tuberculosis is different from COVID. It takes a lot of hours in the same place to be at risk of developing the disease,” he said.
But in July, another positive case of a prisoner, this one contagious, was detected.
“Frustration and anger grew even more as positive inmates with symptoms were returned to their sectors without additional protective measures. Transfers between sectors and other institutions continued.”
– A contaminated employee
It was only in early August that the employer mentioned wearing an N95 mask in a memo sent to employees.
For Dr. Corriveau, wearing the N95 mask did not have to apply to everyone.
“It’s really limited to cases of active tuberculosis or cases with strong suspicion of active tuberculosis. We really need to have a reasoned and reasonable approach because there is really no risk in the presence of latent tuberculosis,” he assures.
But unfortunately for the worker, his fear was confirmed. As soon as the first case was revealed in May, he went to his CLSC to get tested. He was negative. He had never in his life been in contact with the disease. But in July, his test came back positive. His doctor confirmed that he contracted the disease at work.
He has to start taking antibiotics for four months. He is worried.
“Antibiotic treatment can have side effects and there is a risk of developing liver problems. We have a strong feeling that we were not protected by our employer and that the trivialization of the situation contributed to the contagion of the disease.”
The Public Health Department says it took the situation very seriously from the start. Doctor Benoit Corriveau believes he gave the right instructions to prison authorities as soon as the first case was reported. He cannot comment on the worker’s specific case.
How could a prisoner remain ill for three months without a diagnosis?
There is no answer to this question at this time. The Ministry of Public Safety is defending itself and says it followed public health guidelines.
“Incarcerated persons who present symptoms are asked to wear a medical mask (also called a “procedural” mask) while waiting to be assessed and all incarcerated persons can obtain one upon request. In addition, incarcerated persons and their fellow inmates are isolated as soon as a case of tuberculosis is suspected,” writes Louise Quintin, Director of Communications.
See Véronique Dubé’s report in the video.