It has appeared to be become less likely that Dean Skelos, the convicted former New York state Senate majority leader, will be released to home confinement after testing positive for the coronavirus, federal prosecutors reported in court filings this week.

Federal prosecutors last week said the federal Bureau of Prisons informed them that the ex-attorney would be approved for furlough and home confinement.

But in a court filing Monday, prosecutors revealed the agency "has not made a final determination regarding whether Skelos will be furloughed, and that it now appears unlikely that he will be granted home confinement in addition to any furlough."

The federal Bureau of Prisons didn't think Skelos would be eligible for home confinement due to an updated guidance, in which it should not consider inmates for home confinement if they have not yet served half of their sentence, the prosecutors said in a later court filing.

"In light of that guidance, and because Skelos has served only approximately 30% of his sentence, staff at Otisville no longer believe that Skelos qualifies for a discretionary transfer to home confinement," according to the filing.

The prosecutors wrote that the home confinement decision is "distinct" from the question over whether he will be granted a furlough. 

Skelos, 72, has not exhibited COVID-19 symptoms since about April 8, prosecutors reported to a Manhattan federal judge earlier this month.

Skelos was convicted in 2018 and found guilty of pressuring companies, which had business before the state, to provide jobs to his son, Adam Skelos.

Attorneys for the elder Skelos have said he should be given a compassionate release and argued that scientists do not have a specific determination of how long COVID-19 antibodies last.

"Until the risk of reinfection is understood with scientific certainty, we have to assume that Mr. Skelos' continued incarceration exposes him to the risk of reinfection," they wrote in a court filing.

On its online tracker Wednesday, the federal Bureau of Prisons reported five inmates and 12 staff have tested positive for the coronavirus at the federal Otisville facility.