The Ministry of Public Safety says nearly 100 inmates in B.C. have been granted a temporary release in the past month, as the threat of COVID-19 spreading has increased in recent weeks.

It says between March 1 and April 2, 95 inmates were temporarily released of the 10 maximum security jails in B.C. Eighty-seven of those inmates have been serving intermittent sentences, and eight were serving full sentences.

“This does not mean a sentence has ended or is suspended, instead the sentence runs concurrently to the temporary absence. BC Corrections may rescind a temporary absence if warranted,” the Ministry tells NL News.

“All early release assessments consider criminal history, sentence length, offence type, and any other relevant information, including risk to public safety, and available community support upon release.”

The Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre has released 13 inmates in the past month who were serving intermittent sentences.

In that same time frame, only the Surrey Pretrial Services Centre (31) and North Fraser Pretrial Centre (18) have released more inmates serving intermittent sentences.

This data being released by the provincial government comes after a COVID-19 outbreak was declared at one provincial jail on Thursday, the Okanagan Correctional Centre near Oliver, after an inmate there tested positive.

Also, two inmates at the Matsqui Institution, near Mission, tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend. That jail is a federal facility, and it’s not yet clear if the federal government has taken similar measures to release low-risk inmates during this pandemic like the province has.

The breakdown of inmates released at all 10 maximum-security jails in B.C., between March 1 and April 1, is listed below:

	Movement Count from March 1 to April 2, 2020				Inmate Count as of April 2, 2020
	New admissions	Releases: bail and/or sentence completion	Early release: temporary absences granted for sentenced	Early release: temporary absence granted for intermittent sentences	Sentenced	Remand	Other: immigration holds	Total
Alouette Correctional Centre for Women	64	94	1	4	39	39	4	82
Ford Mountain Correctional Centre	0	10	0	0	64	0	0	64
Fraser Regional Correctional Centre	15	112	2	0	150	44	17	211
Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre	38	84	0	13	50	117	1	168
Nanaimo Correctional Centre	6	33	0	12	59	4	0	63
North Fraser Pretrial Centre	270	310	2	18	21	235	14	270
Okanagan Correctional Centre	83	105	3	1	91	171	3	265
Prince George Regional Correctional Centre	93	11	0	4	30	111	3	144
Surrey Pretrial Services Centre	218	278	0	31	37	285	4	326
Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre	106	145	0	4	76	132	4	212
Total	893	1,282	8	87	617	1,138	50	1,805

 

(Source: Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General)