The number of prisoners with a new coronavirus in a single prison in Michigan has skyrocketed, and the Department of Corrections has begun the first wave of extensive testing of prisoners who do not have the virus.

This week, the ministry launched a stronger test at Coldland’s Lakeland Correctional Facility. As of Friday night, 642 prisoners, or 44%, 31 or 11% of the staff, were virus positive. The facility with the most cases of prisoners in the state. Positive cases are expected to increase in the coming days as the department awaits results from all prisoners in Lakeland.

Prisons near the southern border of the state now contain the ninth largest group of confirmed cases in the country. New York Times. The top three sites include two Ohio prisons and a meat packing plant in South Dakota. Perennial Correction Facility Near Jackson-Another Hotspot, Detroit Free Press Analysis — Is the 11th largest cluster in the nation, with 170 prisoners infected and 70 staff infected.

“Correcting facilities like Michigan and Ohio have unusually high rates, and I’m convinced that more countries have very high rates,” Matthew, MD, assistant professor of medicine.・ Dr. Akiyama said. Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx.

Spokesperson Chris Gautz said he is currently planning an outbreak of COVID-19 and mass inspections in prisons containing vulnerable groups.

A high percentage of prisoners tested positive in Lakeland, with 66% of the 971 prisoners tested positive on Friday. At the start of the outbreak last month, prisons contained 1,458 inmates.

Prioritizing Lakeland for expansion testing as the facility houses some of the state’s most vulnerable and elderly prisoners. MDOC wants to identify and isolate asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19, but some prisoners and families are worried that they may be acting too late.

“ This kind of test on this scale was a life threatening because these prisoners were unknown positive, asymptomatic, elderly, medically frail, and roaming prisoners who were potentially infected with them. Will help save the people, “said Gautz.

Akiyama said he would not know how affected those groups would be without screening prisons and asymptomatic people in prisons. Without extensive testing to guide who should be quarantined or quarantined, he said it would be difficult to fight COVID-19 in these situations.

“It’s not easy to say that it has to be done everywhere, it has to be done strategically,” Akiyama said of extensive testing. “But I find it very difficult to contain this infection in a collective environment until it can be done at a level that covers a significant portion of the population.”

Testing vulnerable groups

More than half of 29 Michigan prisons had at least one confirmed prisoner at COVID-19, with a total Friday prevalence of 3%, or 1,178 out of about 38,000 prisoners. The department tested 1,923 prisoners, or 5% of the total prison population. Thirty prisoners died Friday night.

Staff cases increased to 247, or 2% of employees. Two MDOC employees died at COVID-19.

According to Gautz, the ministry plans to extend aggressive testing techniques to several other large facilities after Lakeland. Prior to this week, only prisoners who showed one of the symptoms of COVID-19 were tested.

This move has been followed by extensive testing in certain prisons by several states, including Ohio and Arkansas, with an infection rate of over 80%. Marion Correctional Facility in Ohio. Prisons in central Ohio are the hottest places in the United States, according to the New York Times.

Gautz said more than 700 prisoners in Lakeland are either elderly or in chronic health. Lakeland prisoners are older than the total faculty population. About 17% of prisoners are over 65 years of age, compared to 5% of all prisoners in MDOC. Also, 4% of Lakeland prisoners are over 75 years old, compared to 1% of all state prisoners.

One dwelling housing 80 senile prisoners and 16 prisoners working as aide was positive for 56 (58%) tests. To qualify for a Lakeland nursing home, prisoners must be at least 50 years old and have medical conditions such as progressive dementia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

More: Michigan prison infection rate exceeds prison hotspots in New York and Chicago

More: Over 2,200 coronavirus cases in a nursing home in Michigan

The prison heads the state for the deaths of ten prisoners by COVID-19. Gautz said on Thursday that most of the Lakeland prisoners who succumbed to the virus were held in a geriatric ward.

As the number of positive cases surged, Byron Osbourne, chairman of the Michigan Corrections Agency, said police officers were preparing to work in a containment unit full of isolated prisoners confirmed to have COVID-19 at the facility. It was

“You’re talking about 150, 160 prisoners who are all considered positive, and that’s what we’ll be working with them directly,” Osbourne said. “There’s always anxiety for all staff, not just police. Worry, yes, we were able to get it.”

But the more common fear is to attribute the virus to their families, he said.

MDOC staff should primarily seek community testing. According to Osbourne, the ministry reserves slots for rapid testing by Detroit staff.

In Lakeland, where 11% of staff responded positively, a facility that had to be quarantined for a positive test or exposure “lost left and right staff,” Osborn said. The department adjusts to the shortfall by relocating transportation personnel to work on the premises.

Lakeland is the first facility where the state tests all prisoners, regardless of symptoms, but in other prisons, 5%, such as the Parnal, Detroit Reentry Center, the McComb correctional facility, and the G. Robert Cotton correctional facility near Jackson. Infection rates exceeding 10% have been recorded.

Testing of asymptomatic prisoners on cotton will begin next week. Cotton has contained more than 600 prisoners with chronic conditions, said Gautz, which has been seen in several containment units.

About a week ago, only 19 prisoners of cotton and 1 staff were infected. As of Friday, 101 prisoners and 13 officials were confirmed infected. Cotton has the third most common COVID-19 case among prisoners in the state, after Lakeland and Penal.

Gautz said he would like to better understand the extent of the spread of infections in the coral, which has been a hot spot for coronavirus infections for weeks. The new incident in prison has been relatively flat over the past week, but authorities have warned it could be the result of asymptomatic prisoners or the result of prisoners not reporting symptoms to staff. Prisoners Afraid to report their symptoms Because of concerns including losing personal property and telephone privileges while in isolation.

The Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility, the only facility in the department for women near Ypsilanti, is another interesting place for extensive testing.

According to Gautz, the ministry secures tests from the Michigan Emergency Operations Center and its contractor, the Garcia Institute.

MDOC was planning to open a fourth quarantine unit on Friday for male prisoners determined to be positive, as cases are expected to rise. The former W.J. Maxy Boys Training School for Boys, a vacant building owned by the ministry in Livingston County, was temporarily remodeled, isolating 79 prisoners at COVID-19. The ministry has quarantined prisoners in the Cotton, Carson City correctional facility and McComb’s ward.

“Wait for me to die”

Lakeland prisoner Robert Bruck said he was waiting for the results of the COVID-19 test late Thursday. He experienced mild symptoms that could be a virus earlier that month, but didn’t expect his symptoms to qualify him for testing, so he didn’t ask for testing. He said the virus had already “burned” many of his 160 residential units in a barn of sticks.

“I think they’re calling the fire department after the fire, at least on this side,” he said, referring to extensive testing on his unit. “Now we have an officer in the gown. Two weeks ago, when it was disassembling our unit, there weren’t many tests in progress.”

Brück, 32, admitted that the department was dealing with an unprecedented situation in a rapidly expanding environment.

“I think there are many things that don’t necessarily know how to deal with this,” he said.

On the other hand, relatives like Sister Linda McCracken in Florida and Carroll Mlavito in Texas are worried that the virus could kill the loved one behind the bar.

McCracken and Murabit said the 79-year-old brother in Lakeland had signed the COVID-19. Villagers said they had a fever and a cough and couldn’t get food or water into their stomachs. His sisters said he was always relatively healthy until the virus swept Lakeland.

Now he has asked his family how many loved ones to call to say goodbye.

“He said outside the clinic, I see ambulances lined up there,” McCracken said. “He said,” They feel like they’re waiting for me to die, so they too can get me out. “

Contact Angie Jackson: [email protected]313-222-1850. Follow her on Twitter. Azuki Contact Kristi Tanner: [email protected] or 313-222-8877

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