| GLENVILLE, W.Va. â A total of five inmates at FCI Gilmer in Glenville have been confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19, according to prison employees and union officials.
American Federation of Government Employees District 4 Vice President Dan Doyle said that four of the five confirmed cases of the coronavirus have been reported in the last two days.
The first confirmed case of the coronavirus at FCI Gilmer was announced over the weekend.
Doyle said that all five cases are from the group of 124 new inmates who were brought to the facility last week.
âThe transfer of these inmates to Gilmer FCI needlessly a created a threat, not only to the correctional officers on the front lines of this pandemic, but also to their families and the communities where they work and live,â Doyle said. âThe American Federation of Government Employees has repeatedly raised concerns with the Federal Bureau of Prisons about proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for correctional officers, the lack of adequate screening of inmates and adequate testing of staff and inmates, and the likelihood of introduction of COVID-19 into previously unaffected facilities and geographic areas as a result of these transfers.â
Doyle continued. âThe risk of introducing COVID-19 into an unaffected population is especially acute in rural communities such as in West Virginia, where local hospital and health care infrastructure could be quickly overwhelmed. â
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