7 state prison inmates in NC have now tested positive for COVID-19
Three more state prison inmates in North Carolina have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the number of those cases to at least seven.
The new reports include the first inmate diagnosed with the disease at Johnston Correctional Institution in Smithfield, and two more cases at Neuse Correctional Institution, according to John Bull, a N.C. Department of Public Safety spokesperson.
The additional cases at Neuse, in Eastern North Carolina, bring the total number of inmates testing positive there to four.
Two others at Caledonia Correctional Complex, also in Eastern North Carolina, had previously tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, The News & Observer has reported.
As of last week, five staff members who worked at Central Prison in Raleigh, Johnston Correctional, Eastern Correctional Institution and Maury Correctional Institution had tested positive.
In a Sunday email, Bull said state officials don’t have an accurate count of staff cases because the results are self-reported.
In the federal prison system, 11 inmates and one staff member have tested positive for coronavirus at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex.
Prisons looking for masks, supplies
The increase in the numbers of prisoners testing positive comes as state prisons are scrambling to secure face masks, disinfectant and other supplies that slow the spread of the virus, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Various groups, including public health professionals and a coalition that includes the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, have pushed the state and county officials to reduce prison and jail populations as cases continue to rise across the state.
Those and others have expressed concern about COVID-19 spreading rapidly in jails and prisons because of the close quarters, seeping into the community as inmates, staff and others come and go, and ultimately taxing local hospitals.
They have also expressed concern about the aging state prison population and the impact that COVID-19 could have on a jail and prison population that is likely to be more vulnerable to the disease due to underlying health conditions.
State officials said last week they are taking steps to prevent an outbreak in the prisons, which house 35,000 inmates.
Those actions include medical screenings for staff entering prisons, placing new inmates in a 14-day quarantine, and giving inmates two bars of soap.
This story was originally published April 5, 2020 at 3:21 PM.
