Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur)

Weinstein, in prison, tests positive for coronaviru­s: Report

- Agence France-presse letters@hindustant­imes.com

WASHINGTON: Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has tested positive for the novel coronaviru­s, US media reported on Sunday.

Weinstein, 68, is in prison in northern New York state after being sentenced to 23 years in jail for rape and sexual assault.

The fallen film producer’s diagnosis was reported Sunday evening by celebrity news website TMZ and local paper the Niagara Gazette. Weinstein’s spokespeop­le have declined to comment to US media on the subject.

The New York State Department of Correction­s did not respond when contacted by AFP for confirmati­on of the reports.

Sources told TMZ that Weinstein was one of two inmates to test positive at the high-security Wende Correction­al Facility northwest of New York City and that he has had no contact with family or his lawyers since his diagnosis.

Prior to his transfer, he stayed at Rikers Island prison and a Manhattan hospital, where he was treated for chest pains.

Crowded US prisons have the potential to become hotbeds for coronaviru­s infections. Last week, guards at Rikers and New

York’s Sing Sing prison tested positive for the virus, local media reported.

As of Sunday, the virus has killed 417 people in the US out of more than 33,000 cases.

Weinstein was convicted in February of a criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree, while being cleared of predatory sexual assault charges. He was convicted of raping ex-actress Jessica Mann in 2013 and of forcibly performing oral sex on former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006.

Nearly 90 women, including Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek, have leveled sexual misconduct allegation­s against Weinstein

 ??  ?? Film producer Harvey Weinstein. REUTERS/FILE
Film producer Harvey Weinstein. REUTERS/FILE

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