Schuylkill County Prison Warden David Wapinsky shared good news regarding the ongoing pandemic.

“We have zero COVID cases to report,” he said at Wednesday’s prison board meeting.

Wapinsky said 40 prisoners were vaccinated in July. He did not have a current number of inmates or guards who were vaccinated.

“Our numbers are really high in that regard compared to other prisons, according to PrimeCare, the prison medical provider, Wapinsky said.

He said the entire administrative staff have been vaccinated.

President Judge William E. Baldwin asked about the potential for work release. Wapinsky said PrimeCare recommends those participating in work release be vaccinated.

“Even with the vaccination, you still can’t guarantee total not bringing it back into the jail,” he said.

Those participating would likely have to be isolated “so it would not affect the rest of the jail,” Wapinsky said.

Baldwin asked if reinstituting work release is possible, and Wapinsky said it is.

The total prison population Wednesday was 247. Of those, 198 are males and 49 females. Eleven cells have three inmates each, he said. The July peak census was 276 while the female was 62. Census low was 249.

The average number of outsourced inmates was 40 in July. As of Wednesday, 41 inmates were housed at other facilities: Centre County, 36; Columbia County, 3; and Northumberland, 2.

Two corrections officers recently retired, Michael Devine and John Buchinsky. Wapinsky thanked them for their service.