Major Coronavirus Outbreak Revealed At Brooklyn Jail: Report

BROOKLYN, NY — Dozens of new coronavirus cases this week have confirmed a major outbreak at Brooklyn's federal jail, according to the Daily News.

Fifty-five new cases have been confirmed at The Metropolitan Detention Center between Tuesday and Thursday, bringing the total number of those infected to 80, according to numbers compiled by the Bureau of Prison shared with the News.

Before Tuesday, there had only been 25 confirmed cases at the federal lockup since March.

A total of 49 staffers have also tested positive, according to the News. Jail staff are required to get their own tests whereas inmates are tested by the jail.

Defense lawyers have argued that low numbers of coronavirus cases were only because of a lack of testing, a conclusion that seems to be supported by an Office of the Inspector General review of MDC's practices during the pandemic.

The inspection found that MDC was following Bureau of Prison directives, but that limited testing supplies inhibited their ability to measure the true number of COVID‑19 cases in April and May.

MDC is home to high-profile inmates like Ghislaine Maxwell, who is being held on sex-trafficking charges related to the Jeffrey Epstein case.

The coronavirus outbreak at the jail could be a reason Maxwell recently requested to reargue why she should receive bail, the News said.

Read the full Daily News report here.