UPDATE: The PA Department of Corrections issued a statement saying that they continue to take Covid-19 very seriously, and while they could not comment on the specific case, if the inmate feels he has not received appropriate medical care or treatment, he should bring it up with his counselor, unit staff and/or prison medical staff, who visit frequently and check on inmates.
WHAT WE PREVIOUSLY REPORTED
In an email to Renda Broadcasting, the wife of an SCI-Pine Grove inmate says the prison has a serious problem with Covid-19, and her husband is in jeopardy.
The woman, whose name we will withhold, says prison officials are not properly quarantining sick patients, and in at least one case, a sick inmate was treated and put back in with other prisoners, but later tested positive for Covid. She claims that those who had been in contact with the positive patient were not isolated from others, thus risking further spread.
The woman says she is “in the nursing field” and works at a nursing home, and that SCI Pine Grove is not following proper procedures for testing and treating the prison population. She says her husband is on a “home plan” and is up for parole, but she says he has underlying health issues and doesn’t want him getting sick from Coronavirus before he gets home.
The Department of Corrections has been reducing prison populations with “reprieves” during the pandemic. Three inmates were released From SCI Pine Grove on Tuesday.
According to the SCI Pine Grove dashboard, yesterday’s census showed a total of 529 coronavirus tests having been administered to inmates since the pandemic began. A total of 322 have been negative, 80 have tested positive, and results are pending on 127 others. A total of 206 tests were administered on Tuesday.
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