Coronavirus Variant Spreads in Michigan Prisons as Gretchen Whitmer Administration Transfers Inmates

A coronavirus variant spread around Michigan as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) Department of Corrections transferred inmates between prisons.

The Detroit Free Press reported:

Known cases of the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant inside Michigan’s prison system have more than tripled since the state announced an outbreak at a facility in Ionia last week. …

Cases of the more contagious B.1.1.7 variant — first detected in the United Kingdom — have been confirmed at three state prisons: Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility in Ionia, Duane Waters Health Center in Jackson and Macomb Correctional Facility in Lenox Township.

As of Friday, 292 prisoners and 16 prison employees were infected with the variant, the paper reported.

The agency suspected all of the cases were tied to the Bellamy Creek facility:

The department transferred some prisoners with comorbidities who tested positive for the COVID-19 virus from Bellamy Creek to Duane Waters and Macomb before the variant was detected. At those two facilities, Gautz said Friday that the variant has not been found in any prisoners who were not originally housed at Bellamy Creek.

According to the Free Press, inmates and prison staff “make up the majority of Michigan’s known B.1.1.7 cases.”

“While our numbers continue to trend overall in the right direction, I’m very concerned about what we are seeing with the new B117 variant,” Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, Whitmer’s chief medical adviser, told reporters in February, according to WDIV.

At that time, Whitmer said the variant was a threat to the “progress” the state made during her “three-week pause,” which stretched to 14 weeks. While the “pause” ended, lockdown restrictions are still in place.

“If these become the dominant viruses going around, what’s the likelihood that we could go back to more lockdowns of restaurants and other public gatherings?” a reporter asked the governor.

“No one wants to go back, take steps backward,” Whitmer responded.

“That’s why we’re asking everyone to keep doing their part. The B117 variant, the other variants that we’ve seen around the globe — we still know that they can’t pass person-to-person if we wear our masks, we socially distance and we wash our hands,” she said.

Kyle Olson is a reporter for Breitbart News. He is also host of “The Kyle Olson Show,” syndicated on Michigan radio stations on Saturdays–download full podcast episodes. Follow him on Parler.