COVID-19 has claimed the lives of six inmates and infected almost 1,200 people at four prisons in the tri-county area.
The three state prisons in the tri-county area are reporting five deaths and 788 cases among 736 inmates and 52 staff members. The three facilities – Lowell Correctional Institution, Sumter Correctional Institution and Marion Correctional Institution – also are reporting 496 inmates with negative tests, 982 awaiting test results, two in medical isolation, 1,344 in medical quarantine and 20 in security quarantine, according to a report released Wednesday by the Florida Department of Corrections.
Two inmates have died at Lowell Correctional Institution, located at 11120 N.W. Gainesville Rd. in Ocala. That state women’s prison is reporting 651 cases among 629 inmates and 22 staff members. The facility also has 423 inmates with negative test results, 980 awaiting test results, 1,224 in medical quarantine and 11 in security quarantine.
Three inmates have died at Sumter Correctional Institution, located at 9544 County Road 476B in Bushnell. The facility is reporting 128 cases among 103 inmates and 25 staff members. Sixty-seven inmates have tested negative and three are in security quarantine.
Nine COVID-19 cases have been reported at the Marion Correctional Institution, located at 3269 NW 105th St. in Ocala. Those are divided among four inmates and five staff members. Six inmates have tested negative, two are awaiting test results, two are in medical isolation, 120 are in medical quarantine and six are being held in security quarantine.
Inmates are placed in medical isolation when they are suspected or presenting symptoms of an infectious illness. They are placed in medical quarantine when they may have had close contact with someone who has tested positive or is showing symptoms of an illness. Those in security quarantine are separated because they recently transferred into a correctional facility, according to FDOC.
Meanwhile, one inmate has died at the federal prison in Coleman, where 407 COVID-19 cases have been identified. Those are broken down among 326 inmates and 81 employees, according to a report released Wednesday from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
The majority of the cases – 191 – have been reported in the low-security wing of the massive complex. Of those, 173 are inmates and 18 are staff members. Three inmates and two staff members also are listed as recovered on the report.
Another 154 cases have been reported in the medium-security wing. Those include 126 inmates and 28 staff members. Of those, four inmates have recovered from the virus.
Sixty-two cases also have been reported in the high-security wings among 27 inmates and 35 staff members. As of Friday, two inmates and four staff members had recovered from the illness.
Overall, the Federal Bureau of Prisons houses 142,569 inmates in facilities across the United States and has a staff of about 36,000. As of Wednesday, 3,566 prisoners and 483 staff members in 153 federal facilities were battling the illness.
All told, 6,856 federal inmates and 683 staff members have recovered from the Coronavirus. But 103 inmates and one staff member have died as a result of the illness.
The Coleman prison complex sits on about 1,600 acres and as of 2010 was the largest correctional facility operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The inmates at the facility, on average, serve sentences of about 10 years.
Over the years, the prison has housed a variety of high-profile inmates. Convicted pedophile Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University team doctor, was moved there in August 2018 after allegedly being attacked in an Arizona prison. Somalia pirate Gabul Abdullah Ali and al-Qaeda sympathizer Amine El Khalifi also were believed to have served time there. And the late James “Whitey” Bulger, the famed Boston crime boss, was moved there in late 2014.
This past April, former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown was released from the facility after completing less than half of her 60-month sentence for corruption and fraud charges. The 73-year Brown is serving the remainder of her sentence under home confinement. She suffers from high blood pressure, sleep apnea, low estrogen and acid reflux and was released because of concerns surrounding the Coronavirus.
