Photo: Julie Jacobson/AP

In a court-ordered report Tuesday, the wardens of Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center and Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center revealed that coronavirus testing in the federal detention facilities remains negligible, with just 12 inmates tested across the two facilities.

Seven of those inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the report. Four positive cases are in the MCC, which has a population of 738 inmates, according to the Bureau of Prisons. The other three positive cases are in the MDC, which has a population of 1,734.

Tuesday's report reflects no increase in testing since the first court-ordered report Friday, when the wardens reported 12 inmate tests and six positive cases. Chief Judge Roslynn Mauskopf of the Eastern District of New York ordered the twice-weekly reports Thursday, saying consistent information was needed as petitions related to the coronavirus in detention facilities continue to be filed.

COVID-19 diagnoses have increased slightly among staff in both facilities, from 12 cases Friday to 16 Tuesday.

The Federal Defenders of New York have protested the lack of testing and conditions inside the facilities for weeks, arguing that basic coronavirus prevention measures are virtually impossible in the current conditions.

David Patton, executive director of the Federal Defenders, said the number of officially confirmed cases in Tuesday's report does not reflect the reports he's hearing from incarcerated clients about the apparent spread of COVID-19.

"It's hard for me to quantify how much more robust the testing ought to be, but we certainly receive a lot of reports from clients about people in their units who seem to be quite symptomatic," Patton said.

Patton said the Federal Defenders is also struggling to maintain contact with clients inside the facilities, where in-person visits have been eliminated and officials acknowledged in a hearing Friday that only 15 to 20 legal calls are taking place each day.

In a filing late Tuesday in the Eastern District of New York, prosecutors representing the Bureau of Prisons said they may be able to increase that number to 36 calls per day at the MDC and 40 calls per day at the MCC, but that will include calls with pretrial services and probation along with calls to attorneys. Scheduling and security concerns have made increasing the number of calls a challenge, the lawyers wrote.

Mauskopf also ordered the Queens Detention Facility, a private detention facility, to report on testing and conditions there. As of Tuesday, the facility had tested 17 inmates and had two positive cases, according to its report. That's an increase from four tests and one positive case on Friday, while the number of staff members with confirmed COVID-19 increased from three to seven.

In a footnote, facility officials said they had decided to test symptomatic inmates against the advice of New York City Department of Health officials to confine sick inmates and treat their symptoms.

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