COLUMBUS, Ohio — According to the Office of the Ohio Public Defender, Ohio prisons are currently about 1/3 over capacity and their infirmaries are nowhere near equipped to handle an outbreak.

Last week, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine intimated that he wouldn’t let prisoners out, saying that they have just as much of a chance contracting the virus on the outside that they do on the inside.

However, we now know that a staff member at the Marion Correction Institute has tested positive for coronavirus.

At DeWine’s Tuesday afternoon press briefing, Spectrum News 1 Statehouse Reporter Molly Martinez asked the governor if he still feels the same way.

“Yes, we cannot just let these people who have been convicted of crimes, we cannot just let them loose on the street,” he said. 

When asked about those who have served most of their sentence — perhaps those who have underlying health conditions — he said he said his feelings haven’t changed.

“We will be announcing in the next few days what we're going to do, in everybody's best interest. We have an obligation to prisoners, the staff, and people on the outside. We're not going turn sex offenders loose for very serious crimes," he said.