National Guard filling in for Toledo prison staff amid virus surge
COLUMBUS — With coronavirus infections spiking statewide, Ohio is experiencing a new surge in illnesses among both prison inmates and staff, and the problem has reached the point at Toledo Correctional Institution that Ohio National Guard members have been brought in to help out.
Big outbreaks in congregant-living facilities — including prisons — were emblematic of the pandemic’s early months, and that pattern seems to be emerging again, at least in Department of Rehabilitation and Correction facilities.
As of Tuesday, 3,003 inmates statewide were quarantined and 546 were in isolation. Quarantine is a term generally reserved for people who are avoiding contact with others because of possible exposure to the virus, while isolation refers to individuals who are being kept alone because they are known to have caught the disease.
Of the 546 inmates in isolation, 463 have yet to test negative for the disease since registering a positive test. Among staff 574 are currently considered by that same metric to be coronavirus-positive, representing nearly 23 percent of the 2,544 who've fallen ill since the start of the pandemic.
Read more: https://www.toledoblade.com/local/Coronavirus/2020/12/01/national-guard-supplementing-toledo-correctional-staff-amid-virus-surge/stories/20201201080