Hogan predicts drastic budget cuts, freezes non-coronavirus state spending; D.C. mayor says stay home over Easter weekend

An inmate at the Baltimore County Department of Corrections has tested positive for coronavirus, officials announced late Friday.

The inmate — a black male in his 50s — is not presenting symptoms and is in quarantine in the jail’s medical unit, the officials said. They are doing a contact trace of his interactions with staff and other inmates. In the meantime, his entire housing unit is in quarantine.

Inmates sharing sinks, showers and cells say social distancing isn’t possible in Maryland prisons

“Ensuring the health, safety and well being of both our professional and dedicated staff and all those at our detention center continues to be our top priority as we navigate this global pandemic,” Baltimore County Department of Corrections Director Gail M. Watts said in a statement. “We will continue to follow the recommendations of federal, state, and local health officials and aggressively adopt public health best practices as we respond to this rapidly evolving crisis.”

Dulles International Airport is a big place, but not so big that folks who work there don’t know each other — like family, one worker said. And these days, much of that family is missing.

Air travel has slowed to a trickle, which means fewer workers are needed to sell magazines or lattes or to help ferry passengers in wheelchairs from the ticket counter to the gates. Hundreds have been furloughed or simply let go — many without severance.

Transportation Security Administration officers realized that many might need help, so earlier this month, they opened a food pantry and stocked it with donations from their own cabinets.

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As the number of positive coronavirus cases in the D.C. jail grows, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser says she is using newfound authority to release 36 inmates early.

All are serving sentences for misdemeanor crimes. Bowser (D) is granting them 75 days of “good time” credits, allowing for their early release. About half of the inmates, she said in a statement, will be eligible for immediate release “pending no outstanding matters.” The other half have detainment holds in other jurisdictions, a spokeswoman said.

According to the mayor’s office, the 36 inmates are the only ones left in the jail sentenced to misdemeanors, down from 115 a month ago.

The jail announced six more positive cases of the coronavirus Friday, for a total of 47 positive cases. Officials say eight of those inmates are no longer showing symptoms and have returned to the general population. Attorneys with the District’s Public Defender Service have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the District, as well as a separate petition in D.C. Superior Court, aiming to expedite the release of nonviolent offenders and particularly vulnerable inmates.

The D.C. jail on Friday reported that six more inmates tested positive for the coronavirus. That brings the total number of positive cases reported at the jail to 47, a figure that includes some inmates who officials say have recovered.

All of the inmates who previously tested positive had been housed in the jail’s Correctional Treatment Facility. But on Friday an inmate in the Central Detention Facility tested positive, a sign that the virus was spreading to the larger part of the jail.

Jail spokeswoman Keena Blackmon said eight inmates who tested positive have recovered from the illness and have now been returned to the jail’s general population.

Attorneys with the District’s Public Defender Service have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, as well as a separate petition in D.C. Superior Court, both seeking to expedite the release of nonviolent prisoners at risk of contracting the virus. Both petitions are also seeking the release of inmates who face more serious charges but are either elderly or have compromised immune systems.

In the past week, judges overseeing both cases have sought additional information from jail officials and prosecutors as they weigh the attorneys’ requests.

Three more inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus at the Fairfax County jail, bringing the total number of cases at the facility to four, the Sheriff’s Office said Friday in response to questions from The Washington Post.

All four inmates have been quarantined and are receiving medical care, Andi Ceisler, a Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, wrote in an email. She did not disclose their conditions or whether they had been hospitalized. She wrote that the county health department had conducted contact tracing in each case.

“All steps have been taken by our agency and the Health Department to limit the spread of infection, including notifying those who may be at risk and instructing them on what steps they need to take,” Ceisler wrote.

The Sheriff’s Office disclosed an initial case of covid-19 at the jail March 31 but did not issue news releases about the subsequent cases. The Sheriff’s Office has declined to release the results of tests that were conducted on two staff members, citing privacy concerns. It also won’t say how many inmates or staff members are currently being monitored for signs of the illness.

Last week, the Sheriff’s Office said it was monitoring 27 inmates who had possibly been exposed to the coronavirus.

Following the first case at the jail, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said he was moving to release about three dozen nonviolent inmates at the jail to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus. On Thursday, he said he would review the cases of every inmate at the jail to see if others qualified for early release.

A seventh patient has died of complications from the coronavirus at the VA Medical Center in the District, the Department of Veterans Affairs said Friday. The veteran “in their 70s,” died Thursday.

VA did not specify the patient’s exact age or gender.

Previously, the department reported six virus fatalities at the hospital — one person who died Tuesday, three who died on April 3, one who died on April 2 and one who died March 27. The hospital now has 20 inpatient virus cases, up by four from Thursday, and 69 outpatient cases, up by five from Thursday.

The hospital treats veterans from the District and parts of Maryland and Virginia.

Virginia could begin expediting the release of prison inmates who have less than a year remaining in their sentences to ease crowding in correctional facilities and slow the threat of the coronavirus under a proposal announced Friday by Gov. Ralph Northam (D).

Northam said he would submit an amendment to the state budget enabling the early release, which the General Assembly would take up when it reconvenes on April 22 for a session addressing vetoes and amendments proposed by the governor.

To be eligible, offenders “must have demonstrated good behavior and not be a threat to public safety,” Northam said, adding that he expects the legislature to approve the measure. It would contain an emergency clause and go into effect immediately, he said.

Inmates sharing sinks, showers and cells say social distancing isn’t possible in prison

The release could involve nearly 2,000 inmates, said Brian Moran, state secretary of public safety. “It’s really an extraordinary action by the governor,” Moran said.

Between now and April 22, the Department of Corrections will make plans for eligible inmates to reenter society, a process Northam said usually takes several months. That includes “ensuring the released person has somewhere to go and has the medications they need for three months,” Northam said.

He acknowledged the release could be challenging because there are fewer social resources available for formerly incarcerated people during the economic shutdown accompanying the pandemic. Northam called on rehabilitation centers and community advocates to “continue to offer all services possible to help people who are released.”

As of Friday, Virginia had reported a total of 47 confirmed coronavirus cases in its state correctional facilities — 25 inmates and 22 staff.

As the coronavirus pandemic sweeps through the Washington area, testing options across the region have increased. But the boost in testing has also created a new issue: having enough material for the tests themselves.

To offset shortages, Children’s National Hospital has recently stepped in to help produce some of the materials for the tests in-house. A hospital spokesperson wrote in an email that the facility focused on the production of viral transport media, “the special liquid used in a COVID-19 test kit for collecting, preserving and transporting a patient sample.”

In a March 21 news release, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged that “many laboratories are reporting difficulty” in obtaining all the necessary ingredients for covid-19 tests.

Partnering with the D.C. Public Health Laboratory and using a recipe released by the CDC, Children’s National lab staff worked through the weekend to produce 1,000 vials of the solution, which were delivered to the D.C. Public Health Laboratory on Monday.

Children’s National is also preparing to create 10,000 vials for its own use at the hospital, where it has been testing children.