MDOC: 323 Confirmed Positive Cases at Jackson Facilities, 104 Confirmed Positive Jackson Staff; 642 Cases at Lakeland

(April 25, 2020 11:47 AM) The Michigan Department of Corrections is reporting as of 9:30 PM Friday, there are 1,178 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases at facilities throughout the state.  Of that statewide total, 323 of the confirmed positive cases are at Jackson facilities.

The number of positive COVID-19 cases at Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater increased by 249 since yesterday’s report.  The Department reports the number of prisoners tested increased from 525 to 971 since Thursday’s report.   66% of prisoners tested at Lakeland are confirmed positive.

There have been a total of 30 deaths of prisoners who had tested positive for COVID-19, 10 of those deaths were among prisoners at Jackson facilities. The most recent deaths, reported on April 24, were of a prisoner at Lakeland Correctional Facility and a prisoner at Parnall Correctional Facility. On April 23, the department reported the deaths of a prisoner at Lakeland Correctional Facility, Parnall Correctional Facility and Woodland Center Correctional Facility.

In Jackson, there are 170 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases at Parnall Correctional Facility, 28 at Charles E. Egeler Reception and Guidance Center, 24 at Duane Waters Health Center and 101 at G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility.

Among staff, there are a total of 240 COVID-19 positive cases statewide.   In Jackson, there are 70 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases among employees at Parnall Correctional Facility, 1 at Cooper Street Correctional Facility, 17 at Charles E. Egeler Reception and Guidance Center, 13 at G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility and 3 at Jackson Regional Warehouse.

The Department says they have now started a system of expanded testing beginning at Lakeland Correctional Facility. The plan is to test all prisoners at Lakeland by the end of the week and begin testing prisoners at G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility the week of April 26.

The MDOC says a step-down unit has been opened at Gus Harrison Correctional Facility for prisoners who previously tested positive for COVID-19, and have since been medically cleared by the MDOC’s chief medical officer, are symptom free and are no longer considered contagious. Access to the unit is limited and prisoners in the unit do not have contact with the rest of the population at Gus Harrison Correctional Facility. Prisoners at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility are housed in a step-down unit at the facility and are not transferred to Gus Harrison Correctional.

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.