Two inmates at Neuse Correctional test for coronavirus, 'security measures' taken after incident

Jerry Higgins, communications officer with NCDPS said the two cases makes three prisoners in North Carolina who have the virus. The first offender to test positive, on April 1, is housed at the Caledonia Correctional Institution in Halifax County.

Higgins said the two newly diagnosed offenders, both men in their 40s, are in isolation at Neuse Correctional and are being treated by the licensed medical staff assigned to the facility. He said the offenders, who were housed in the same housing unit, reported to the medical staff with symptoms of a viral infection on March 27. They were quarantined from the population and tested for COVID-19. The test came back positive Thursday. They are in stable condition.

A spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety said inmates at the Neuse Correctional Institution had a negative reaction to the news of the two inmates. WRAL's Julian Grace reports a number of law enforcement were surrounding the facility, some wearing riot gear.

Coronavirus spreading in NC prisons

Sky 5 was in the air and saw inmates outside Thursday afternoon. WRAL was told some of the inmates had refused to go back inside after learning about the coronavirus cases.

WRAL also spoke with a prisoner inside the facility, and he said there is a lack of social distancing in the prison and inmates are afraid of catching the virus. He also said there is less than three feet of distance between each bed. He was also concerned correctional officers could be spreading the virus.

Thursday evening, DPS spokesman John Bull said Neuse Correctional Institution Warden Morris Reid and other prison workers attempted to speak with a group of prisoners outside their dormitory about the coronavirus situation.

"Other offenders from different dorms then came outside and would not go back inside despite orders from the warden and other staff," Bull said in a press release. "The appropriate security measures and appropriate levels of force were used to restore order, in what can be best characterized as an organized offender protest."

Bull said there were no serious injuries reported.

First inmate coronavirus case reported in NC prison

A prison official told WRAL that correctional officers are being tested and screened with their temperatures being taken when they enter the prison. If they have a temperature over 100 degrees, they are sent home and not allowed back in the prison until they have a doctor's note.

“We have prepared for this,” said Todd Ishee, Commissioner of Prisons. “We are following the infectious disease protocols we put in place for just these situations. Our top priority is the health and safety of our staff and the men and women in our care.”

Higgins said it was incorrectly stated Thursday at a press conference in Raleigh that an offender at Johnston Correctional Institution, a minimum custody facility in Smithfield, tested positive for COVID-19. No offender has tested positive at that prison at this point.