GLENVILLE, W.Va. (AP) — Dozens of new federal inmates who have no symptoms of the new coronavirus have been sent to a West Virginia facility for a 14-day quarantine, a Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman said.
The 124 inmates were transported Tuesday to the Federal Correctional Institution at Gilmer in Glenville, Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Sue Allison said.
Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal said 10 sites across the country with available bed space were identified to house the new inmates, a move to relieve overcrowding. Carvajal told staff on Wednesday that inmates who don’t test positive for the virus after the quarantine will then be transported to their designated prisons.
West Virginia officials, including Gov. Jim Justice, have asked the bureau to reconsider the transfers to Glenville and to the federal prison at Hazelton.
It wasn’t immediately known when inmates would be sent to Hazelton. Allison said “no further movement to quarantine sites is scheduled at this time.”
