Former movie producer Harvey Weinstein, who is serving a prison sentence for sexual assault and rape, has tested positive for Coronavirus, according to the head of the state corrections officers union. Weinstein, 68, has been placed in isolation at Wende Correctional Facility, said Michael Powers, president of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association.
Powers said he learned that the test came back positive on Sunday morning and is concerned about the corrections officers, who he said lack proper protective equipment. Several staff have been quarantined, Powers said.
Weinstein arrived at Wende Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison east of Buffalo, New York, on Wednesday after being housed at New York City’s Rikers Island jail.
He was sentenced to 23 years in prison on March 11 for sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi and raping Jessica Mann, a onetime aspiring actor.
Following the sentencing, Weinstein spent time at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan for heart problems, according to his spokesman, Juda Engelmayer. He also has other medical issues, including diabetes and high blood pressure.
A lawyer for Weinstein said on Sunday night that his legal team had not been notified of the coronavirus diagnosis. “Given Mr Weinstein’s state of health, we are of course concerned, if this is the case, and we are vigilantly monitoring the situation,” said lawyer Imran Ansari, who is based in New York.
The Niagara Gazette, a local newspaper in upstate New York, reported that Weinstein had tested positive for the highly contagious virus earlier Sunday, citing anonymous officials.
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