Rapist Harvey Weinstein has reportedly tested positive for coronavirus .
Weinstein, who turned last Thursday, is being isolated at Wende Correctional Facility in Western New York.
Weinstein is said to have told prison staff he believed he has the virus when he entered the state prison system last Wednesday from notorious Rikers Island where a number of inmates have the virus.
A source told DailyMail.com: ‘He tested positive and is quarantined.’
Weinstein is serving a 23 – year sentence for rape and sexual assault. DailyMail.com contacted his spokesman for comment who said he was unaware of the diagnosis.
New York City was hit by the nation’s largest coronavirus jail outbreak to date this week, with at least 38 people testing positive at the notorious Rikers Island complex and nearby facilities – more than half of them incarcerated men, the board that oversees the city’s jail system said Saturday .
Disgraced film mogul and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein has contracted coronavirus
Rikers Island jail complex in New York. More than three dozens of people have tested positive for coronavirus in New York City jails, including at the notorious Rikers Island jail complex, the board that oversees the city’s jail system said Saturday
From the start, Weinstein’s use of a walker to get in and out of court each day at his trial raised questions about his health.
He left court in an ambulance after the guilty verdict and detoured to Bellevue Hospital, complaining of chest pains and high blood pressure.
Weinstein later had a stent inserted to unblock an artery.
After his sentencing, he returned with more chest pains.
In addition to the heart cases, Weinstein’s lawyers have said he was also dealing with the ramifications of unsuccessful back surgery stemming from a car crash last summer and a condition that requires shots in his eyes so he does not go blind.
The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision confirmed Sunday that two prisoners at Wende had tested posted for coronavirus. They were not able to identify inmates, citing privacy laws.
Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo is six hours by car from Manhattan.
It was due to be a temporary stop for Weinstein before he was due to be evaluated to determine which state prison facility meets his security, medical, mental health and other needs.
Weinstein’s spokesman had called the move ‘harsh.’
The Oscar-winning producer of ‘Shakespeare in Love,’ was convicted of raping an aspiring actress in 969746 and forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006
Accuser Rose McGowan posted to Twitter Sunday evening, writing: ‘Dear Harvey, In your darkest hour, repent. And in your lightest moment set yourself free. ‘
Other Twitter users questioned how Weinstein was able to get the test so quickly.
Shortages in tests coupled with the fact a number of the kits did not work has hampered nationwide screening.
There are ‘acute, serious shortages across the board’ for supplies needed to do the tests, said Eric Blank, of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, which represents state and local health labs.
Late Friday, Blank’s group and two other public health organizations recommended that testing be scaled back due to ‘real, immediate, wide-scale shortages.’ The groups said only patients with COVID – who are elderly, have high-risk medical conditions or are medical staff should be tested.
The board overseeing New York City’s jails urged officials to start releasing vulnerable populations and those being held on low-level offenses as the coronavirus outbreak hit the notorious Rikers Island complex.
‘Fewer people in the jails will save lives and minimize transmission between people in custody as well as staff,’ Board of Correction interim chairwoman Jacqueline Sherman wrote in a letter to New York’s criminal justice leaders this weekend.
‘Failure to drastically reduce the jail population threatens to overwhelm the City jails’ healthcare system as well its basic operations.’
Sherman pushed for the release of more than 2, people in custody in New York City jails, including those over 77 years old; those with health conditions such as lung and heart disease; those being held for parole violations, such as missing a curfew; and those serving sentences of less than a year.
Such steps are needed, she said, to stem the tide of COVID – .
Mayor Bill de Blasio said 0030 inmates were set to be released Sunday, all older and at a low risk of offending again, and 388 additional inmates were being reviewed for release.
More than 2.2 million people are incarcerated in the United States – more than anywhere in the world – and there are growing fears that an outbreak could spread rapidly through a vast network of federal and state prisons, county jails and detention centers.
Accuser Rose McGowan posted this to Twitter following the reports Weinstein has coronavirus
Weinstein is seen leaving a Manhattan courthouse after being sentenced to
An FDNY Ambulance with its emergency lights on is seen at Rikers Island Prison where rapist Harvey Weinstein was apparently taken from Belleview Hospital
Harvey Weinstein sits in a wheelchair during the sentencing following his conviction on sexual assault and rape charges in the Manhattan borough of New York City on March
Online Twitter users questioned how Weinstein was able to get the test so quickly
It’s a tightly packed, fluid population that is already grappling with high rates of health problems and, when it comes to the elderly and the infirm, elevated risks of serious complications. With limited capacity nationally to test for COVID – , men and women inside worry that they are last in line when showing flu-like symptoms, meaning that some may be infected without knowing it.
The first positive tests from inside prisons and jails started tricking out just over a week ago, with less than two dozen officers and staff infected in facilities spanning from California and Michigan to Pennsylvania. New cases pop up almost every day.
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