Frightening number of Coronavirus cases in Florida prisons
Union officials at Federal Correctional Complex Coleman and Federal Correctional Institution Miami sounded the alarm on just how bad the conditions are inside the facilities.
According to the Bureau of Prisons, 91 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 at FCI Miami. SOURCE
A prison in rural North Florida has seen the number of inmates diagnosed with COVID-19 explode, with more than 400 prisoners reported testing positive for the virus.
This past Sunday, 30 inmates at Columbia Correctional Institution had tested positive for the deadly respiratory disease, according to a Florida Department of Corrections report. By Thursday, the number had soared to 442 prisoners, as the virus continued to show that it can move rapidly through Florida’s prison system. SOURCE
Discover more from Florida Action Committee (FAC)
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
The Gainesville Sun today published one of our letters:
Prison outbreak
My husband and I received a letter recently from an inmate to whom we minister at Columbia Correctional Institution. There are currently well over 500 cases of COVID-19 at this prison.
These were the inmate’s words: “If a person has a fever, they put them in confinement. They strip people and lock them up in a cell. Staff does not wear protection. We cannot get bleach with which to clean.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a recent news conference there was no real concern in certain counties with spikes as they were mainly within the prisons. My takeaway was that he was content with the status quo.
Kudos to Sen. Jeff Brandes, who has called on DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet to take action. Would DeSantis be endangering society by placing an inmate, who was incarcerated for a technical violation, on house arrest with an ankle monitor?
As of yesterday, over 50% of all inmates at Columbia Correctional Institution now have tested positive.
While my husband was placed in Apalachee Correctional Institution, East Unit, the dorm barber stepped forward to help him out and protect him from the gang members who targeted him because of his dementia. This dorm barber was recently transferred to Columbia Correctional Institution. He said he felt like he had died and gone to heaven. Today my husband and I received a letter from him. This is what he had to say:
“There are 3 dorms on restriction, mine being one. They took out around 9 inmates and around 13 staff. Nurses come around twice daily and take temperatures, and if one is 99.1 and above, they lock you up in confinement, whether you have symptoms or not. Really, it is a punitive measure for having a slight fever. They do no testing…or treatments. A person just sits in confinement…until you do not have a fever for 14 days. Punitive, I say.” No masks are worn.
We received another letter today from this same inmate, saying: “The officials here have absolutely no idea what to do regarding this COVID-19 business. If a person has a fever, they put them in confinement. They strip you and lock people in a cell. That makes no sense. Staff do not wear protection but will give an inmate a DR if they do not cover their face at all times. We have no CDC-approved masks, and we cannot get bleach to clean with.”