As massive COVID-19 outbreak hammers prison, NC sends reinforcements
As a massive coronavirus outbreak continues to hammer Neuse Correctional Institution, state officials have begun bringing staff reinforcements from a nearby prison.
State prison officials announced Monday that they have temporarily closed Johnston Correctional Institution, in Smithfield, and have sent that prison’s employees to work at Neuse, in Goldsboro, about 24 miles to the southeast.
Johnston’s 600 inmates have been transferred to other prisons.
“The staff at Neuse have been working in the toughest conditions, for weeks on end and desperately needed support,” said state prisons commisioner Todd Ishee. “They are owed everyone’s thanks for standing tall in their commitment to the prison system and the safety of our communities.”
As of Monday afternoon, more than 450 of Neuse’s roughly 770 inmates — about 60 percent of the prison’s population — had tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Wayne County Health Department. It’s one of the largest coronavirus outbreaks of any prison in the nation.
State officials are now testing every inmate there, and more results are pending.
The state has also offered testing to all 250 of Neuse’s staff members. Eight staff members there have reported testing positive, state prison officials said Friday.
State officials say the overwhelming majority of the infected inmates at Neuse are not currently showing symptoms.
But Foy Thornton, an inmate at the prison, told the Charlotte Observer Monday that it has been days since many inmates have had their temperatures checked. Some inmates have refused to report their symptoms to the medical staff, for fear of being put in a quarantine unit without access to telephones or television, he said.
“They’re just sweating it out,” Thornton said. “... Everybody is in fear.”
The inmates from Johnston were transferred to Southern Correctional Institution in Troy and to the Burke Confinement in Response to Violation Center in Morganton.
State prison officials say all the transported inmates were medically screened – including temperature checks — before and after they were moved. After arriving, the inmates were placed under 14-day medical quarantine and were not allowed to mix with other inmates, state Department of Public Safety said.
The transportation vehicles were disinfected before and after each trip, and the inmates were outfitted with face masks, state DPS officials said.
The staff reassigned to Neuse, like those already assigned to the prison, will receive supplemental pay for their work there, state officials said.
A truckload of personal protective equipment was delivered to Neuse on Saturday to help curb the virus’ spread, according to DPS. Large-scale disinfectant-dispersal units, were also used to clean the prison.
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 11:34 AM.
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