An employee at a Florida prison has tested positive for coronavirus, officials say
An employee at a state prison for men in Central Florida has tested positive for COVID-19, the Florida Department of Corrections confirmed Tuesday morning.
The employee, who tested positive for the disease on Sunday, works at the Marion Correctional Institution’s Work Camp.
The Marion Correctional Institution, 3269 NW 105th St. in Ocala, can house 1,324 inmates, according to Corrections.
Its work camp, where the employee worked, has an inmate population of 274 and is on “restricted movement,” which means only essential staff will be allowed to enter the institution and no inmates will be be transferred in our out, according to the corrections department.
This will not affect inmates access to washrooms, showers, medical care or meals, a news release states.
Florida Corrections did not disclose the employee’s position in the camp or how much contact the employee might have had with inmates.
Officials say the employee was out sick for the past eight days and will not be returning until a full recovery is documented by a medical professional. Three other staff members — who were identified as having had close contact with the ill employee — have been placed on leave and will be in self-isolation for the next 14 days to monitor for novel coronavirus symptoms, according to a news release.
Corrections says it is working with Marion County’s Department of Health to determine if additional staff or inmates need to be tested “due to close contact risk factors,” and that all staff entering the work camp will continue to be screened.
As of Tuesday, the FDC says none of its inmates or staffers at the facility are showing symptoms.
