As Marquette Branch Prison coronavirus outbreak grows, descriptions of inmate conditions emerge - WLUC

(WLUC) - The growing coronavirus outbreak inside Marquette Branch Prison - and the way they’re hearing it’s being handled - prompted a mother and a friend of two separate maximum security inmates to contact the TV6 & FOX UP newsroom.

“He said, ‘We need help here,’” said a woman who says she talked to her friend on the phone Wednesday night, and he’s tested positive.

Meantime, a mother says her son called Tuesday and said he’s negative, but she’s afraid that won’t last.

The Michigan Department of Corrections says the outbreak is on the maximum security side of the prison.

As of Thursday evening, MDOC data shows 182 inmates and 85 staff members at the prison have now tested positive.

MDOC spokesperson Chris Gautz said in an email Monday that while ongoing job vacancies remain, staff not following masking and social distance rules was causing the bigger problem at Marquette Branch Prison.

Gautz says maximum security inmates are in individual cells.

“I would like to see the inmates who need medical attention and quarantining to be quarantined, away from people who are otherwise healthy,” said the mother of another inmate.

“Staffing levels have obviously been impacted and the MDOC is working hard to make temporary adjustments to facility operations, including bringing in additional staff from other facilities,” Osborn said.

MDOC says Marquette Branch Prison received about 100 prisoners from Chippewa, and all of those inmates tested negative upon arriving in Marquette.