Coronavirus cases at Fort Worth prison nearly double again, 2 more reported dead
A federal prison in Fort Worth reported 241 inmates have coronavirus, and two more people there have died from the virus as of Tuesday.
On Thursday, 131 inmates inside the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth had tested positive for coronavirus. That number increased by 110 as of Tuesday. One staff member also tested positive for the virus last week.
There are 1,500 men inside the prison, many with medical needs that make them more vulnerable to coronavirus.
FMC Fort Worth has the highest number of inmates with coronavirus in the country, and its 241 cases make up 18% of the federal prison system’s infected inmates. Across the country, 1,313 inmates and 335 Bureau of Prisons staff have tested positive for COVID-19. Thirty inmates have died.
As of April 22, one inmate at FMC Fort Worth, Arnoldo Almedia, had died from coronavirus. Officials reported two more of the prison’s inmates with coronvairus had died as of Monday.
Donnie Grabener, 65, died on Saturday. Grabener was sentenced in the District of Louisiana and was at FMC Fort Worth since Feb. 4, 2019, the BOP said in a press release.
Oscar Ortiz, 78, died Friday. He was sentenced in the District of Idaho and was in custody at FMC Fort Worth since Nov. 7, 2011.
Both were serving sentences on drug charges and had pre-existing conditions, the BOP said in press releases.
Since officials first reported 35 cases at FMC Fort Worth on April 21, the number of inmates who have tested positive has increased by 588%.
According to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), mass testing was done at FMC Fort Worth because of the high number of at-risk inmates.
This is the same federal prison holding Joe Maldonado-Passage, more commonly known as Joe Exotic.
Maldonado-Passage is the focus of the Netflix documentary series “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” which has exploded in popularity since its March 20 release. The 57-year-old former zoo owner is being held at the Fort Worth Federal Medical Center, according to inmate records.
The other federal medical prison in Fort Worth, FMC Carswell, had not done mass testing as of Monday, according to the BOP. The prison, which houses women, has reported two coronavirus cases, including one death.
When asked why mass testing had not been done at Carswell, BOP spokesman Justin Long said the bureau is prioritizing the use of test kits for “select facilities experiencing widespread transmission.”
The BOP received 10 rapid RNA testing devices, referred to as Abbott ID NOW instruments, on April 10. The next day, 264 test kits were deployed to prisons with known COVID-19 cases.
This week, the BOP will receive 10 more Abbott ID NOW instruments, which will be sent to prisons based on “facility need to contain widespread transmission,” and the need for early intervention at prisons with “a high number of at-risk inmates such as medical referral centers,” Long said.
He did not specify if Carswell was among those prisons that would receive an Abbott ID NOW instrument or if mass testing was planned at Carswell.
Long said the prison is following CDC guidelines and the BOP’s action plan.
Several inmates at Carswell said they are afraid of catching coronavirus and that the prison is not doing enough to limit the spread. Many sent a letter to Warden Michael Carr asking to be released on home confinement, as 1,576 other inmates have been because of coronavirus.
“We feel that we are not safe here,” the letter said. “If one case of the coronavirus is introduced into this prison, the result will be more deaths than what any state has experienced so far.”
This story was originally published April 27, 2020 at 7:14 PM.
