UPDATE: Inmate Protest at Neuse Correctional Institution after positive coronavirus cases

News of two positive coronavirus cases in one prison sets off a protest at the Neuse Correctional Institution in Goldsboro.

John Bull, with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, said Neuse Correctional Institution Warden Morris Reid and members of his custody and medical staff attempted to speak with a group of offenders outside of their living dormitory around 12:15 on Thursday.

Prison employees said they were explaining proper Centers for Disease Control guidelines were being instituted at the prison after two inmates there tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

Bull said, while discussing cononavirus restrictions following those positive tests, other offenders from different dorms came outside and would not go back inside despite orders from the warden and other staff.

Prison officials called it, "An organized offender protest,"

They added the appropriate security measures and appropriate levels of force were used to restore order and said there were no serious injuries reported at the Goldsboro prison.

The inmates, who tested positive for COVID-19 are now the second and third offenders in the state prison system to test positive.

The first offender is at the Caledonia Correctional Institution in Tillery. The two inmates at Neuse Correctional are both in their 40's, said to be receiving treatment, and are in stable condition.

***UPDATE***

Two inmates in the minimum custody unit at Neuse Correctional Institution in Goldsboro have tested positive for coronavirus.

They are the second and third offenders in the state prison system to test positive for the virus. . The first offender to test positive, on April 1, is housed at the Caledonia Correctional Institution in Tillery.

The two newly diagnosed offenders are in isolation at Neuse Correctional and are being treated by the licensed medical staff assigned to the facility.

The offenders, who were housed in the same housing unit, reported to the medical staff with symptoms of a viral infection on March 27. They were quarantined from the population and tested for COVID-19. The test came back positive April 2. They are in stable condition.

The individuals who tested positive are both males in the 40s.

These two individuals, along with the offender at Caledonia Correctional, are the only currently known instances of offenders in the state prison system testing positive for COVID-19.