DeWine orders Ohio National Guard to assist at Elkton Federal Prison

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced that around two dozen National Guardsmen will be deployed to the Elkhard Federal Correctional Institution on the eastern edge of the state Monday.

Medical staffing at the prison was at 50 percent.

To assist, 26 guardsmen will be sent, unarmed, to help medical staff at the prison deal with the problem, which has seen seven positive COVID-19 cases and three deaths. About twenty inmates remain hospitalized with similar symptoms.

The National Guardsmen will remain there for 7-10 days.

The governor also requested the US Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Prisons to stop prisoner intake at this facility.

In state prisons, five inmates have tested positive at both Marion and Pickaway Correctional Institutions. A total of 27 inmates have tested positive throughout the state system.