First inmate in NC state prison tests positive for COVID-19 as new screening begins

A male inmate at a minimum security prison in eastern North Carolina — a man in his 60s — is the first in a state prison to test positive for COVID-19, officials said Wednesday.

The announcement came after a staff member at a different state-run prison — Maury Correctional Institution — also tested positive for coronavirus.

State officials said they would take new steps to prevent an outbreak in the prisons, which houses 35,000 inmates.

Immediate measures have been taken where the inmate is housed at Caledonia Correctional Complex in Tillery, a men’s facility in Halifax County with a capacity of 1,038 inmates.

The inmate, who is in his 60s, started having symptoms of a viral infection March 24, according to a news release. He was quarantined “promptly” and tested. Results came back positive Wednesday afternoon, according to the release. He is being treated at the facility and is in isolation, according to the release.

“We have prepared long and hard for this day,” said Todd Ishee, Commissioner of Prisons, in a statement. “This is not a surprise and we are following the infectious disease protocols we have in place for exactly this type of situation. Our top priority is the health and safety of our staff and the men and women in our care.”

No more information was provided about the inmate for privacy reasons, the state said.

Butner Federal Correctional Institution north of Durham, a federal facility, has 10 confirmed cases among nine inmates and one employee, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.

Meanwhile, the employee at Maury Correctional Institution, who reported testing positive on March 30, was exposed to a family member who had also become infected. Prison officials didn’t identify the employee, but said in a news release that the staffer had no symptoms and had “only very limited, brief interactions” with inmates.

Almost 150 prison employees across the state — out of about 16,00 prison employees system-wide — have been put on leave due to possible symptoms or exposure to COVID-19, according to a March 30 briefing report obtained by the Charlotte Observer.

About 100 inmates have been tested for the coronavirus, prison officials say. About 60 of those tests have been completed.

Prisons and jails are especially vulnerable to infectious diseases, experts say, because inmates live so closely together and use toilets just feet from their beds.

At Caledonia Correctional Complex, “the entire minimum unit has been placed on quarantine, with no movements of offenders to or from the prison unless for critical need,” according to a release.

Inmates in the housing dorm where the man was assigned will be issued masks, according to a release. The unit is on lockdown except for “appropriately regulated recreational time.” Inmates will eat meals in their dorms.

Personal protective equipment has been sent to the prison.

Prison officials said the employee at Maury who tested positive has been off the job since March 26, when the test swab was taken and sent to a lab for processing.

Housing more than 1,300 maximum and medium custody inmates, Maury is one of the state’s largest prisons. It’s located in Greene County, about 80 miles east of Raleigh.

On March 30, two of Maury’s housing units were placed on quarantine, according to a memo from the prison warden that was obtained by the Observer. Staff members assigned to those two housing units are now required to wear masks, according to the memo.

New protective measures at NC prisons

On Wednesday, officials with the state Department of Public Safety announced broader measures: They have begun taking the temperatures of every employee who enters a prison each day. Anyone with a temperature of 100 degrees or more will be denied entry, prison officials said.

Now, staffers will also be asked a series of screening questions before entering the prisons. Officials say they’ll deny entry to any employees who have symptoms of respiratory illness or who have been exposed in the past 14 days to anyone who is suspected or diagnosed with COVID-19.

And when new inmates are brought into state prisons from county jails, they will be isolated for 14 days.

State officials say they hope those steps will prevent an outbreak.

“We do not underestimate the challenges we face to keep coronavirus from entering the prison system,” Ishee said. “... We must do all we possibly can to deny this virus a foothold in our prisons.”

In mid-March, state officials temporarily banned all visits to the prisons in hopes of preventing an outbreak.

On March 24, state prison officials also suspended the work release program — an effort to limit inmates’ potential exposure to the coronavirus.

Prison officials said this week they are also considering options for releasing inmates and reducing the prison population. That came on the heels of a March 27 letter to Gov. Roy Cooper from public health experts and others who are urging the release of people from youth facilities, jails and prisons to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.