A court-mandated report signed by the wardens of Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center and Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center on Tuesday showed that no inmates were tested for the coronavirus in the past five days—and only two have been tested since April 9.

Nineteen inmates have been tested across the two facilities as of Tuesday, with 11 testing positive for COVID-19, the wardens reported. Fifty-two staff members at the facilities have tested positive, an increase from 40 on Thursday, according to the reports.

The wardens have been required to submit reports on their facilities' response to the coronavirus every Tuesday and Thursday since April 2, when U.S. District Chief Judge Roslynn Mauskopf of the Eastern District of New York ordered the reports because of the volume of cases in her district related to detention amid the pandemic.

In addition to individual petitions for release, judges in the Eastern District are overseeing cases related to general conditions at the MDC and MCC, including inmates' access to legal calls and basic COVID-19 prevention tools such as soap.

Homer Venters, a doctor and former chief medical officer for New York City's Correctional Health Services, is expected to inspect the MDC on Thursday as part of ongoing discovery in one case. Venters will visit isolation and quarantine units and speak with inmates at their cell doors, U.S. District Judge Rachel Kovner ordered.

According to a declaration filed by an MDC medical official in that case, which is captioned Chunn v. Edge, the MDC is dealing with a "shortage of tests" and therefore reserves tests for people who meet certain criteria, even if others are showing symptoms associated with COVID-19.

"MDC continues to work diligently with local health providers, including Quest Diagnostics, to obtain as many COVID-19 tests as possible," the medical official wrote.

Lawyers representing MDC and MCC inmates, including the Federal Defenders of New York, have said social distancing and other recommended prevention measures are virtually impossible inside the facilities. The low number of confirmed COVID-19 cases should not be interpreted to mean that the disease is not spreading among the inmates, especially when staff cases continue to increase, advocates cautioned.

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