Harvey Weinstein Tests Positive for Coronavirus

New York prison puts former producer in isolation
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 22, 2020 8:23 PM CDT
Harvey Weinstein Tests Positive for Coronavirus
FILE - In this Feb. 20, 2020 file photo, Harvey Weinstein arrives at a Manhattan courthouse for his rape trial in New York. Weinstein was sentenced Wednesday, March 11, to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, New York prison officials said. He's in isolation at Wende Correctional Facility, the Niagara Gazette reports. Another inmate at Wende also has tested positive. Weinstein was transferred there Thursday from Rikers Island; new state prisoners are sent to Wende for security and health issues to be assessed, then often are moved to another prison. Weinstein's spokesman and attorney said Sunday that they hadn't been told the former Hollywood mogul had tested positive, per the Daily Beast. Prison officials suspect he already had the virus when he arrived from Rikers.

The head of the correctional officers union said it has asked the state system to suspend transferring of inmates during the pandemic. "There is no better breeding ground for this virus than a closed environment such as a correctional facility," he said. At Rikers, 21 inmates were confirmed to have the coronavirus before being sent to Wende. Weinstein, 68, was to be held at Wende for as long as eight weeks. (More coronavirus stories.)

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