Inmate at NYC's only private jail gets COVID-19 for a second time

An inmate at the private Queens Detention Facility tested positive for COVID-19 for a second time. AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

By David Brand

UPDATE March 12, 2020 at 12:07 p.m. — This story has been updated to include a response from a GEO Group spokesperson.

A man locked up in New York City’s only private jail has tested positive for COVID-19 — for a second time. 

The unidentified inmate at the Queens Detention Facility, a federal jail run by private prison contractor GEO Group, was taken to a hospital where he tested positive for the illness after the corporation determined he had recovered once before, according to a court-mandated report published May 7.

The coronavirus has surged in the 222-bed private jail, located near JFK Airport, where cooperating witnesses await their own trials or sentencing dates in federal court. Six inmates have contacted the Eagle to describe the conditions inside the jail’s open dormitories, where inmates sleep in bunk beds.

“Everyone’s coughing, sneezing on top of each other,” one inmate said last month. He asked to remain anonymous because he is a cooperating witness. “We’re not practicing social distancing because you cannot do social distancing in this jail because everyone is so on top of each other.”

A Brooklyn federal judge last month ordered the jail warden to provide a twice weekly report about the number of people testing positive and efforts to stop the spread in the jail’s open dormitories. At least 38 inmates and 25 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 at the jail, according to GEO Group. 

GEO Group, which contracts with the U.S. Marshals Service to operate the jail, had reported that every inmate had recovered the illness. 

GEO Group and the U.S. Marshals Service did not respond to emails seeking more information.

UPDATE: A day after this story was published, a GEO Group spokesperson provided the below response below.

“As of May 12th, one U.S. Marshals inmate at the Queens Detention Facility tested positive for COVID-19 (Coronavirus). The inmate had previously tested positive and was considered clinically recovered by Facility Medical Staff after being medically isolated for over 7 days (10 days total) and not exhibiting symptoms, in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Subsequently, approximately nineteen days later, the inmate was transferred to the local hospital for a non-COVID-19 related issue where he was tested again, the results of which were positive. Any inmates exposed to the inmate who tested positive have been medically cohorted in order to monitor their health and wellbeing, in accordance with the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

We have issued a statement (geogroup.com/COVID19) on the comprehensive steps GEO has taken at all our facilities to address the risks of COVID-19 to all those in our care and our employees, who are on the front lines making daily sacrifices to provide care for all those in our facilities. We will continue to coordinate closely with the U.S. Marshals Service and local health agencies to ensure the health and safety of all those in our care and our employees.”