Lawrence, KANSAS – According to the statement, the Kansas Department of Corrections is now seeing more employees unable to report to work due to COVID-19 related illnesses and more inmates with the virus.
Officials say there has been a steady decline in the number of staff available to operate each facility on any given day of shift over the last year.
There were 78 active cases among residents and 117 active cases of staff, officials said.
The Kansas Department of Corrections Secretary, Jeff Zmuda, released the following statement:
“As we need to make every effort to mitigate further spread of the COVID-19 virus, and as our staffing levels are critical, we must take the step of again suspending in-person visitation at all juvenile and adult correctional facilities.”
This story will be updated as new information become available.