‘Alarming’ COVID-19 cases among Fort Worth prison staff reach all-time high
Coronavirus cases are on the rise again at a federal prison in Fort Worth, but this time staff also face high infection rates.
At Federal Medical Center Fort Worth prison, 18 staff members reported they had COVID-19 as of Monday — the most the facility has seen yet, according to data from the Bureau of Prisons. Staff at federal prisons includes correctional officers, nurses, chaplains, wardens and other workers. At FMC Fort Worth, 33 total staff members have had the virus, and 15 have recovered. The prison has about 335 total staff.
“It’s very concerning and alarming that our staff cases are going up,” said Gregory Watts, a correctional officer and president of FMC Fort Worth’s union.
Fifty men incarcerated at the medical prison also had the virus as of Monday. Over the course of the pandemic, 12 men at the prison have died from COVID-19.
Watts said he is “knocking on wood” that the facility avoids another major outbreak among those incarcerated at the prison. FMC Fort Worth first started mass testing in facilities in April and, within a few weeks, the prison had the second highest number of COVID-19 cases at a federal prison in the country. By May 12, 635 men at FMC Fort Worth had coronavirus.
At a county commissioners meeting on May 12, Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said he wanted all staff members at the prison to be tested for the virus due to the increased case numbers. The biggest concern about the prison outbreak was that staff at the prison would catch it inside the facility and spread the virus to the general public, Whitley and Tarrant County Public Health Director Vinny Taneja said at the meeting.
But the current cases at FMC Fort Worth show the reverse happening in November and December — staff members appear to be getting COVID-19 from the public, leading to increased cases at the prison.
The union at FMC Fort Worth — AFGE Local 1298 — has encouraged and even set up COVID-19 testing for staff. In May, the union coordinated with the Tarrant County Public Health Department, and about 150-175 staff members were tested at tables in a parking lot near the prison.
Staff wear masks, take temperatures at the door and Watts personally sends emails to staff reminding them to social distance and follow CDC guidelines.
Six federal prisons in Texas had higher total case numbers than FMC Fort Worth on Monday, but only one — Texarkana FCI — had more staff members with active cases. Texarkana had the most coronavirus cases out of all federal prisons in the country, with 25 staff and 337 inmates with the virus. La Tuna FCI in Anthony, Texas also had 18 staff members with the virus as of Monday.
At a Grand Prairie federal prison office, 25 staff members reported active COVID-19 cases, according to the BOP data.
Nationwide, new cases of the virus in federal prisons reached their highest level since the start of the pandemic the week of Nov. 24, the Marshall Project reported as part of its ongoing reporting of COVID-19 in prisons. Staff members and those incarcerated in the prisons alike have caught the virus at an increased rate as COVID-19 numbers rise across the country.
Since the start of the pandemic, more than 56,496 prison staff members have tested positive nationwide, the Marshall Project reported.
