Manhattan Prisoners to Be Screened for Temperature Before Court

(Bloomberg) -- All inmates at New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center must be screened for body temperatures before they are allowed to appear in court, the chief judge for federal courts in Manhattan ordered on Friday as authorities step up measures to limit exposure to the spreading coronavirus.

Prisoners with temperatures of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or above will not be taken for court appearances, U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon said. The notorious jail has been under heavy scrutiny since financier Jeffrey Epstein killed himself in his cell at the facility last August while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

The order comes a day after a criminal trial at the federal courthouse across from the prison was interrupted when a judge informed lawyers and spectators that a member of the jury pool had been contacted by health authorities about possible exposure to the coronavirus, forcing the proceedings to be moved to a different courtroom.

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