NEW YORK, May 20, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- At least four inmates in the New
York City jail on Rikers Island have been diagnosed with swine flu, Mayor
Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday.
The mayor said another four inmates may have the virus, WCBS-TV reported.
"Correction and health officials are monitoring the situation and preparing to
implement additional health screening and where needed, isolation of ill
inmates," Bloomberg said. "It is in some senses easier to control because
obviously the prisoners can't leave on the other hand, it is also a confined
area where we really don't have the choice of moving people out and asking them
to stay home."
New York operates 10 institutions, with an average total inmate population of
14,000, on Rikers Island in the East River between the Bronx and Queens. The
only connection with the mainland is a single bridge to Queens.
Norman Seabrook, head of the guards union, called for the temporary closing of
the Anna M. Kross Center, where the swine flu cases have occurred.
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