At least 18 inmates have tested positive in D.C., according to a new report from the District’s Department of Corrections. News4’s Scott MacFarlane reports a judge has ordered a hearing about the conditions inside.
A total of 20 inmates in Washington, D.C. have tested positive for coronavirus, the Department of Corrections said Monday.
A 65-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman are the latest two cases. They are both in isolation.
Three men, 62, 39 and 29 years old, and a 36-year-old woman were reported positive for COVID-19 on Sunday. All are in isolation.
The woman's unit was quarantined Wednesday after another inmate there tested positive.
A 35-year-old man and a 35-year-old woman were the second group of people in custody to test positive. There were both put in isolation.
A 48-year-old man, 33-year-old man, 26-year-old man and a 21-year-old man were reported positive for the coronavirus Thursday.
All those individuals were housed in the same building as someone who tested positive from their unit on March 26. They were moved to a quarantine unit as a precautionary measure.
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The DOC reported Wednesday two other D.C. jail inmates tested positive for the coronavirus.
One of those cases is a 48-year-old man who was moved to the quarantine unit March 26 as a precaution after someone else in his unit tested positive. He is in isolation.
The other case is a 30-year-old woman who is in isolation in the infirmary.
An email about those cases was sent to Department of Corrections staff Tuesday.
All patients are being monitored according to guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and DC Health, according to the DOC.
Several inmates filed a class action lawsuit against the Department of Corrections accusing staff of not taking proper safety precautions to protect them from the coronavirus.
The lawsuit wants the Department of Corrections to implement safety measures and release offenders serving time for misdemeanors.
The city says it has been planning for the well-being of inmates.
The union representing corrections officers also is unhappy with conditions, saying there are not enough cleaning supplies.
