There appears to be a growing concern from family members of workers regarding a possible “cluster” of COVID-19 cases at the Lakeview Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility in Brocton. Those who have reached out to the OBSERVER say seven to 11 cases have been confirmed in recent days, including Tuesday at a rapid testing clinic in Dunkirk.

County officials did not acknowledge the potential situation on Monday or Tuesday. For its part, New York state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said it will not comment on cases involving staff.

Thomas Mailey, director of public information for the agency, noted that through Friday, there have been 2,169 staff across the state who have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began. “The department makes public the confirmed number of staff who have tested positive for COVID-19 and the confirmed number of staff deaths due to the virus, however for security reasons the numbers are not broken down by facility,” Mailey said.

Mailey also said correction officers and other essential correctional facility workers, absent any symptoms, can request to be tested by their personal physician, or at one of the state’s testing sites. “All staff identified as part of a contact trace are directed to quarantine and referred to their personal physician or a state testing site. In facilities that have had spikes of cases, most recently Auburn Correctional Facility, the Department has deployed rapid testing for staff,” he said.

While the facility in Brocton is not on the list, a number of calls to the OBSERVER indicate there is a concern and that staff, which had been staggered or was working from home, has infection counts on the rise.

As for the inmates, Mailey said there were no positive cases of incarcerated individuals at Lakeview Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility, with 304 negative results and no results pending as of last week.

Lakeview Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility is a minimum security level facility for males and females. It is located at 9300 Lake Ave.