Harvey Weinstein tests positive for coronavirus
Convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein has tested positive for coronavirus, according to a prison union boss.
Former Hollywood movie producer Weinstein, who is serving a 23-year sentence at maximum security prison Wende Correctional Facility in New York, has been placed in isolation.
Michael Powers, president of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, said several staff have been quarantined after the test results came in on Sunday.
A lawyer for Weinstein said he had not been notified of the diagnosis and said his team is “vigilantly monitoring the situation”.
A local newspaper in New York, the Niagara Gazette, cited unnamed officials in a report claiming Weinstein had tested positive earlier on Sunday.
Two prisoners at the Wende Facility have confirmed cases of the virus, a state prison official told Reuters.
The official said he could not comment on any individual prisoner’s medical record.
Weinstein arrived at Wende Correctional Facility 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 actress.
Following the sentencing, Weinstein spent time at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan for heart problems, according to his spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer.
He also has other medical issues, including diabetes and high blood pressure.