More than 35% of federal inmates who have tested for coronavirus were positive, according to data from The Bureau of Prisons. The agency says that…
More than 35% of federal inmates who have tested for coronavirus were positive, according to data from The Bureau of Prisons.
The agency says that of its 16,839 tested inmates, 6,060 have tested positive. In total, the BOP has tested more than 18,000 of its 163,441 federal inmates, with results pending in more than 2,300 cases.
Prisons with high percentages of inmates testing positive for coronavirus are scattered throughout the country.
At Federal Correctional Institution Butner (medium security) in North Carolina, 226 out of 295 inmates tested received positive results. Butner, which holds 880 inmates, is home to ponzi-scheme mastermind Bernie Madoff, who was recently denied compassionate release by a judge despite COVID-19 concerns.
At Federal Medical Center Fort Worth, in Texas, which also been impacted by COIVD-19, nearly 73% of 825 inmates tested received positive COVID-19 results. There are more than 1,300 inmates at the facility. Joe Exotic, from the Netflix docuseries “Tiger King,” was moved to the facility in April according to the New York Post, and his lawyers have been petitioning President Donald Trump to pardon Exotic due to COVID-19 concerns.
“At FMC Fort Worth we had our first positive COVID-19 positive inmate on April 8th which soon after that our number escalated to over 650 positive cases,” Greg Watts, the FMC Fort Worth union president told ABC News. “I’m very proud of how all of our staff came together and continue to work together to provide safety for the inmates, staff and our community.”
He said that the union spearheaded staff testing.
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