Two prisoners under COVID-19 isolation at Grafton Correctional Institution

GRAFTON — Two prisoners at Grafton Correctional Institution are under COVID-19 isolation, according to data released by the Ohio Department of Health on Wednesday. The data also identified two coronavirus tests were sent from the facility, and two tests from the prison system were pending results. By the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction's definition, "isolation" means the two inmates are sick with a contagious disease and are being separated from people who are not sick. Grafton was the only prison in the state where prisoners were being tested Wednesday, according to the data, and the facility is also the only one where inmates were being isolated. Isolation is different from quarantine in that quarantined prisoners have not become sick, but are separated and limited in movement due to possible exposure to a contagious disease. Statewide, 2,547 prisoners are under quarantine at Ohio prison facilities. The vast majority, 2,541 of them, are at the Marion Correctional Institution, where the full institution is in quarantine after a positive coronavirus test from a staff member. A Marion inmate who was transferred to Franklin Medical Center also is being quarantined in a cell, as are five other inmates he was housed with there, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said the data released by the department refers specifically to the incarcerated population, and does not include numbers regarding staff. On Wednesday, the ACLU of Ohio emailed a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine, who in a news briefing Tuesday indicated the possibility of reducing Ohio's prison population due to coronavirus concerns. In the letter, ACLU of Ohio chief lobbyist Gary Daniels and policy director Jocelyn Rosnick asked DeWine to consider releasing people with health vulnerabilities, people older than 60, people with six months or less remaining on their sentences, people with technical violations, people serving for drug possession, nonviolent offenders and people in prison for fourth- and fifth-degree felony offenses. "This is not meant to be an exhaustive list," they wrote. "But it does demonstrate meaningful avenues exist to significantly and safely depopulate our bursting prison system now subject to unprecedented risk." Contact Dylan Reynolds at (440) 329-7123 or dreynolds@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @drey1357.