Two inmates at federal prison in NC test positive for COVID-19
Two inmates at the federal prison in Butner have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons posted on its website the first two reported cases of COVID-19 among prisoners at the Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, just days after confirming that a staff member tested positive for COVID-19.
Spokespeople for Butner and the federal prison system did not immediately return phone messages late Monday afternoon.
As of Monday afternoon, 28 inmates in federal prisons had tested positive for COVID-19. Twenty-four staff members had also tested positive.
The prison in Granville County houses 1,278 inmates. The facility includes the bureau’s largest medical center with space for 948 inmates.
An alert on the prison’s website said that all visits at the facility had been suspended until further notice.
On March 28, a prisoner being held in Oakdale, Louisiana, died from COVID-19. The bureau has taken extra measures to try and prevent the spread of COVID-19 in its facilities.
There is a mandatory 14-day quarantine for new inmates. If an inmate needs to be moved, the inmate must undergo an exit screening for COVID-19 symptoms, according to the bureau’s website. If the inmate has COVID-19 symptoms, or a temperature higher than 100.4 degrees, they will not be transferred and will be placed in isolation.
Staffer at federal prison complex in Butner tests positive for coronavirus
