Harvey Weinstein tests positive for coronavirus in prison

NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein tested positive for the coronavirus at a state prison in New York while serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault, the head of the state correctional officers union said Monday.

The 68-year-old former film producer, who was hospitalized with heart issues in recent weeks, was diagnosed and quarantined just days after being transferred to the state’s maximum security Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo.

Weinstein was previously locked up at New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex, which has had a spate of coronavirus cases.

The state prison system confirmed that two inmates at Wende have tested positive for COVID-19, but did not identify them because it said it can’t comment on individual inmate medical records.

Michael Powers, president of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, said Weinstein was one of the prisoners with the virus. Five officers and two supervisors at Wende were also placed in isolation because of possible exposure to the virus, he said.

The Niagara Gazette first reported Weinstein’s diagnosis.

Weinstein’s spokesman and defense lawyer said Monday they “will neither confirm nor deny whether Mr. Weinstein has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus,” saying they wanted to protect his privacy.

Weinstein was sent to Wende last Wednesday, the day before the state prison system stopped accepting inmates from local jails in an effort to stymie the spread of coronavirus.

Weinstein, the Oscar-winning producer of “Shakespeare in Love,” was convicted of raping an aspiring actress in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006. His lawyers have said they’ll appeal.

The New York City jail system that...