MDOC: 297 New Positive COVID-19 Cases at Parnall Correctional Facility

(May 30, 2020 12:30 PM) The Michigan Department of Corrections is reporting as of 9:30 PM Friday, May 29, there are 3,303 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases at facilities throughout the state.  Of that statewide total, 1,355 of the confirmed positive cases are at Jackson facilities.

Today’s report has an increase of 297 positive COVID-19 cases at Parnall Correctional Facility as pending test results have been completed and recorded.  MDOC Spokesman Chris Gautz tells JTV, “We did mass testing there and we got all the results back at once.”

In Jackson, there are 488 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases at Parnall Correctional Facility, 107 at Charles E. Egeler Reception and Guidance Center, 70 at Duane Waters Health Center and 690 at G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility. 

Of 1544 tested prisoners at Parnall Correctional Facility, 32% are COVID-19 positive.  Of 1854 tested prisoners at Cooper Street Correctional Facility,  37% are COVID-19 positive.

MDOC Spokesman Gautz told the Detroit Free Press that nearly all the prisoners at Parnall Correctional Facility have tested positive for antibodies for the coronavirus, suggesting that they had COVID-19 in the past.  As of May 22, 92 percent of prisoners tested at Parnall were positive for antibodies, according to the Detroit Free Press report.  The department offered antibody blood tests to all prisoners at Parnall.  Of 1,248 people tested, Gautz told the Free Press 1,148 were positive.

The department has been using the nasal swab test which detects an active viral infection.  An antibody test is used to determine whether someone has had the virus at some point in the past.  The department completed the testing of all 37,915 prisoners in the system using the nasal swab test according to a statement issued on May 22.  The Free Press reports MDOC has done some antibody testing in nine of its 29 facilities.

Among staff, there are a total of 365 COVID-19 positive cases statewide.   In Jackson, there are 76 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases among employees at Parnall Correctional Facility, 1 at Cooper Street Correctional Facility, 35 at Charles E. Egeler Reception and Guidance Center, 41 at G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility and 3 at Jackson Regional Warehouse.

There have been a total of 63 deaths (statewide) of prisoners who had tested positive for COVID-19, 22 of those deaths were among prisoners at Jackson facilities.  The most recent death, reported on May 28, was of a prisoner who had originally been housed at G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility

The Michigan Department of Corrections is listed as a separate jurisdiction in the daily MDHHS report of positive cases in the state. All other cases are reported by county.  MDOC prisoner cases are not included in the county cumulative numbers or in the numbers reported by the Jackson County Health Department.