A federal detention center at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in New York City has no in-house ability to test sick or high-risk inmates for COVID-19, according to a letter from the jail's top official in court documents reviewed by ABC News. 'MCC New York does not have COVID-19 tests
A federal detention center at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in New York City has no in-house ability to test sick or high-risk inmates for COVID-19, according to a letter from the jail's top official in court documents reviewed by ABC News.
Miedel sought the court-ordered test this week to ensure Brown was receiving appropriate care and asked the court to order the facility to provide frequent updates on his condition. At a coronavirus task force briefing earlier this week, President Donald Trump said he"doesn’t like" the idea of states releasing nonviolent offenders.MORE: Supreme Court scraps April calendar, delays major cases amid pandemic
MCC in New York, which has about 700 inmates, has reported at least nine confirmed cases of COVID-19 among inmates and staff, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons. "They're telling us that they don't do COVID-19 testing in the MCC," Miedel said."So the only way that people can be tested is if they are taken out of the facility to a hospital and tested there."
At another federal jail in New York, the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, four inmates with underlying health issues filed a civil lawsuit last week against the warden, alleging the facility is so ill-equipped to contain the virus that continuing to detain high-risk prisoners violates their constitutional rights."There are approximately 90 people in a small area, and we are freaking out and are not doing well mentally," the inmate continued in the court filing.
The threat to the inmates' lives"is ongoing, not simply imminent," the lawsuit states."Every hour that [they] are held in the MDC, they are at a significantly elevated risk of contracting coronavirus, and because of their age and/or medical conditions, their risk of dying from coronavirus is significant."
"BOP and MDC have taken strong measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 for inmates and have reduced inmate populations, increased sanitation and screening, limited visitors, increased testing and improved isolation protocols," Cho wrote.
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