Over half of Loretto inmates have virus

Relatives told it’s ‘like a war zone’ inside federal prison

An outbreak of COVID-19 has infected more than half the inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution at Loretto, with 445 currently positive -- second most among the 122 prisons in the federal prison system, according to the Bureau of Prisons website.

There are also 24 staff members currently positive -- but there have been no inmate or employee deaths due to COVID-19 at the low-security facility, which houses 811, according to the website.

Seventy inmates and 10 staff members have recovered from COVID-19 at the prison, where all visitation has been suspended, according to the facility's website.

People with loved ones at Loretto are worried.

A New Jersey woman who alerted the Mirror to the outbreak has a fiance there who has diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and sleep apnea, all of which place him at risk, she said.

Her fiance has mild symptoms, but hasn't said he's tested positive -- which may be because he doesn't want her to worry, said the woman, who asked that her name not be used. But she is worried anyway.

An inmate who is the fiance of Chancel Tyler of Richmond, Va., came to the prison in Loretto three weeks ago after finishing cancer treatments at a facility in North Carolina, and caught COVID-19, Tyler said.

He's vulnerable not only because of the cancer, but because of congestive heart failure, she said.

An inmate who is the son of a woman named Katy from Flint, Mich., is positive.

He has some vulnerabilities, Katy said.

People familiar with the situation in the prison say it's "like a war zone," Katy said.

"There are cots all over," including in the hallways, said the New Jersey woman.

"They don't have anywhere to put anybody," Tyler said.

A prison official whom an employee directed the Mirror to email didn't respond Tuesday afternoon.

Each institution in the Bureau of Prisons "has made plans consistent with their institutional resources (including physical space) and will continuously monitor their visiting plan, and make prompt modifications, as necessary, to effectively manage COVID-19," states the Bureau's Modified Operations Plan on the BoP website. "Such modification may include limiting or postponing visitation, providing visitation by appointment, or other adjustments as appropriate."

There are 124,616 inmates in the BoP-managed system, along with 13,909 in community-based facilities, and 36,000 staffers, according to the BoP website.

There are 6,440 inmates and 1,647 staff with active cases, according to the website.

According to the website, more than 22,000 inmates and 2,142 staffers have recovered.

There have been 153 inmate and two staff deaths from COVID-19, according to the website.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7083.