The total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus rose to 11,602 cases on Sunday

Coronavirus has overtaken a vast majority of the prison population at the Marion Correctional Institution, state officials said Sunday.

The Ohio Department of Health reported more than 1,000 newly confirmed cases of the coronavirus across the state Sunday, bringing the total of confirmed and probable cases to 11,602. With 20 additional deaths, there have been 471 confirmed and probable deaths from COVID-19, state officials said.

The number of hospitalizations rose to 2,565. Franklin County now has 1,442 confirmed cases and 30 confirmed deaths.

Much of the increase in cases has come from Ohio’s prison system, as more tests have come back confirming that inmates and employees are infected.

>> This story is being provided for free as a public service to our readers during the coronavirus outbreak. You can find more stories on coronavirus here. Please support local journalism by subscribing to The Columbus Dispatch at subscribe.dispatch.com.

Overall, the state’s prison system has recorded 2,426 positive results among inmates, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said. That number is 21% of the total confirmed cases in Ohio.

The majority of those cases are at the Marion Correctional Institution, where 1,828 inmates — 73% of the total — have tested positive for the virus, state officials say. The remaining 667 prisoners now are in quarantine. No deaths have been reported among inmates there.

Marion Correctional’s staff has had 109 positive tests and one death reported.

Pickaway Correctional has 384 prisoners who have tested positive, and the number of reported deaths has increased to five, according to correction department statistics. The prison’s 1,614 other inmates are in quarantine.

In addition, 64 staff members at Pickaway Correctional have tested positive.

The Franklin Medical Center in Columbus is another hot spot; 103 inmate patients there have tested positive, and there has been one death. The 393 other inmate patients there are in quarantine. Among the staff, 46 members have tested positive.

"Throughout our mass testing process, we have found many individuals who are testing positive for COVID who are asymptomatic," said JoEllen Smith, correction department spokeswoman.

Those who require additional care are being treated at hospitals near the prisons or at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. The Ohio National Guard is providing medic support at Pickaway Correctional and will be sent to help at Marion Correctional as well, Smith said.

The state also has put most of its other institutions, which house more than 29,000 prisoners, in quarantine as a precaution.

Despite the increase in confirmed cases among inmates, the total seems to have leveled off in recent days. The number of deaths, though, is steadily rising.

Gov. Mike DeWine has pledged to begin reopening the state's economy in phases beginning May 1, but health experts caution that testing must be widespread before businesses in the state can fully reopen.

Ohio is able to offer only limited testing at this time.

Protesters have congregated outside the Statehouse in recent days to demand that DeWine reopen the economy, and some Republican lawmakers have joined the calls for the state to allow businesses to open again.

The governor issued a statewide stay-at-home order in March that shuttered any business deemed nonessential. Grocery stores remain open, as do restaurants that agree to offer only carryout and delivery.

In an interview with Chuck Todd on NBC’s "Meet the Press" on Sunday morning, DeWine said he recognizes that protesters have a First Amendment right to speak their minds, but he has asked demonstrators to observe social distancing to avoid spreading the virus.

"They were protesting against me yesterday, and that’s just fine," DeWine said. "We're going to do what we think is right, and that is try to open this economy, but do it very, very carefully."

DeWine told Todd that Ohio could double or triple testing capacity if the FDA approved a reagent needed for test kits. DeWine appeared to confirm on Twitter on Sunday that the FDA had approved the reagent, but a spokesman for the governor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

pcooley@dispatch.com

@PatrickACooley

jwoods@dispatch.com

@Woodsnight