Is it COVID-19? Feverish Harvey Weinstein is being ‘closely monitored’ in prison
Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is “being closely monitored” by medical staff in a New York state prison after coming down with a fever, according to his representatives. It is unclear whether the former producer has COVID-19.
“We can neither confirm nor deny that Mr. Weinstein has tested positive for COVID-19,” his publicist Juda Englemeyer and authorized prison spokesman Craig Rothfeld said in a statement to The Times on Wednesday.
The 68-year-old inmate is currently in the care of the medical staff at Wende Correctional Facility, the maximum security prison in upstate New York where he is serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault in the landmark #MeToo case.
His reps did not say when he spiked the fever nor how high it was.
Harvey Weinstein was convicted of rape and committing a criminal sexual act in New York, and could face up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced in March.
TMZ reported that Weinstein had been tested for COVID-19 on Tuesday morning and was awaiting results in isolation. His reps did not comment on that report.
Weinstein has not been transferred to a hospital outside of Wende, as some reports suggested. The facility has a Regional Medical Unit located inside the prison and that’s where Weinstein has been since he was moved to Wende in March. Rothfeld said that the unit is analogous to a hospital inside the prison.
“It should come as no surprise that Mr. Weinstein has numerous maladies and conditions including a heart condition, high blood pressure and spinal stenosis,” Englemeyer and Rothfeld said in the joint statement. “We are working with the NYSDOCCS and the excellent team at Wende CF to ensure Mr. Weinstein receives the proper medical attention he needs.”
Before arriving at Wende, the Oscar-winning producer had been splitting time between New York’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex and a Manhattan hospital.
Harvey Weinstein faces six additional sexual assault charges in L.A. involving two more accusers.
After being found guilty in February, Weinstein left the court in an ambulance and detoured to Bellevue Hospital, complaining of chest pains and high blood pressure. He later had a stent inserted to unblock an artery. After his sentencing, he returned with more chest pains, according to the Associated Press.
Later, the former film titan was held in isolation after two inmates at Wende tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Weinstein still faces a legal battle in Los Angeles. In October, local prosecutors charged him with six additional sexual assault counts involving two more alleged victims.
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