Inside the federal prison where three out of every four inmates have tested positive for coronavirus - CNN

More than 1,300 of the roughly 1,750 prisoners at FCI Seagoville prison and camp have tested positive for the virus, according to data from the federal Bureau of Prisons -- a stunning three out of every four inmates.

A spokesperson said the agency distributed cloth masks to every inmate and guard, began mass testing of inmates in the prison by late June and stepped up sanitation procedures, among other policy changes.

Since the beginning of May, when there was only a single coronavirus case at Seagoville, the number of inmates who have tested positive has soared to 1,333, according to BOP data (including prisoners at a minimum-security camp next to the prison).

"It has been terrifying to watch."

Nationally, more than 10,000 federal inmates and 1,300 BOP employees have tested positive for coronavirus, while 111 inmates and one staffer have died.

In a message denying his request for compassionate release, the prison's warden wrote that "at this time COVID-19 is not considered extraordinary compelling circumstances" under the BOP's compassionate release policy, inmate George Reagan told CNN.

The BOP spokesperson said the agency didn't comment on specific inmates' requests for early release.

Giannetta's older brother Russ, a physics professor at the University of Illinois, said in an interview that he had sent medical documents outlining his brother's myriad health issues to officials at the prison and even wrote a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but his pleas for help didn't seem to have any effect.

The Seagoville facility was a "petri dish," Russ said.

He said James knew even before he tested positive that he was in real danger: "He had a pretty good premonition that this was not a place that was going to be able to contain this virus if it broke out."

Prison struggles to respond to outbreak

In interviews, inmates at Seagoville described a chaotic response to the outbreak by prison officials, whose efforts to slow the spread of the virus were hampered by delayed test results and a lack of enforcement of mask-wearing policies.

Curtis Severns, a Seagoville inmate scheduled to be released next year after an arson conviction based on disputed evidence, said that he and other inmates faced a four-day delay between taking a test and getting the result last month -- which meant that the prison didn't move some positive inmates out of the general population until it was too late.

The BOP spokesperson said Seagoville was using a rapid 15-minute test machine as well as commercial lab tests that have turnaround times of three to 10 days.

Severns, who tested positive and was mostly asymptomatic, said he is now living with five roommates -- all of whom have also tested positive -- in a small former TV room converted to housing.

"I think everybody here's going to get it."

Mask wearing has been spotty among both guards and inmates, several inmates said, although they added that more people in the prison are now wearing masks regularly in the last week or two as cases have shot up.

Joseph Perrone, who said he is scheduled to go to a halfway house in a few weeks after about a decade in prison for selling cocaine, said he suffered headaches, a loss of smell and the worst muscle aches of his life after testing positive.

Coronavirus-positive inmates who are symptom-free for 10 days will be considered recovered in most cases, and they will start to be moved back to their original housing locations soon, the memo said.

According to BOP statistics, 1,287 inmates at the prison have recovered from Covid-19, while 46 still have active cases.

Beyond the prison walls

Visitation has been shut down at Seagoville and other federal prisons for months -- but outbreaks behind bars can still spread to local communities as guards and other employees go back and forth to work.

"But you're still required to go to work -- we can't leave the inmates by themselves and say we'll come back later."

The BOP spokesperson said the agency couldn't require employees to get tested, but it's providing staff who come in close contact with Covid-19-positive inmates a letter to public health departments that can help them get prioritized for testing.

Research has suggested that prison coronavirus cases can seed broader outbreaks in their local communities.

Still, local officials in Dallas County said they didn't think that Seagoville was having a major impact outside the prison itself.

Reagan tested negative twice, so the prison didn't isolate him from the other inmates, Wheeler-Reagan said.

She was confused why prison officials rejected her husband's bid for home confinement during the pandemic, especially considering he has heart disease and he'll likely be eligible to go to a halfway house later this year, she said.

"I one hundred percent don't think that the federal government cares at all," Wheeler-Reagan said.