Carbon County is protecting inmates at the correctional facility by protecting the corrections officers with proper personal protection equipment.

On Wednesday, the county prison board addressed an anonymous complaint that was received about guards not wearing masks when in contact with inmates.

Warden Timothy Fritz said it wasn’t mandatory, but it had been recommended that staff wear masks when around inmates.

Those who are incarcerated are considered one of the vulnerable populations with COVID-19 because of the close proximity they are in at the prisons.

Carbon County has taken measures to ensure their safety, including suspending visitation and the work-release program. The inmate population as of Wednesday was 183.

“We have taken numerous steps to prevent the transmission by inmate transfer, and now we have to be concerned about corrections officer transfer,” Sheriff Tony Harvilla, president of the prison board, said. “I agree that the way to slow that down, if not eliminate it, is to require corrections officers and anyone in contact with inmates have facial coverings of some type.”

The board discussed the matter, and asked Fritz to modify the policy, effective immediately, that all prison staff wear a mask when in contact with inmates.

On Thursday, Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein, who also sits on the prison board, said that to date, Mark Nalesnik, the Carbon County Emergency Management Agency coordinator, distributed 4,940 N95 masks, 88 boxes of gloves, 3,470 gowns, 96 face shields, 12 goggles, 44 Tyvek suits, 422 bottles of hand sanitizer and 12 gallons of disinfectant to emergency services, the prison and St. Luke’s Carbon facilities.

“They are getting the masks and property safety equipment at the prison,” he said, noting that so far, the county has been able to keep up with the demand thanks to donations and receiving equipment.

The prison has also ordered an additional 300 masks for corrections officers.

“We are ahead of the curve yet,” Nothstein said.