The city’s Department of Correction has re-opened a shuttered facility on Rikers Island to separate inmates showing symptoms of the coronavirus from the rest of the jail’s population, the agency said Monday.

The the Eric M. Taylor Center was closed on March 1 as part of a plan to gradually close down the sprawling jail complex.

DOC spokesman Peter Thorne said the center will be used to hold new male inmates who have symptoms of COVID-19 — as well being used as an overflow location for inmates already in custody who show signs of being infected with the virus.

“We are using every available tool to keep people safe and prevent COVID-19 from spreading,” Thorne said.

Built in 1964, the Taylor center has maximum capacity for more than 1,700 inmates and housed about 800 before it closed its doors.

The department announced closure of the Taylor center — along with the Brooklyn House of Detention — last year after the City Council passed legislation to fully close Rikers by 2026 and replace it with new borough-based jails for pretrial detention.

A DOC spokesman said there are no plans on the table to re-open the Brooklyn House of Detention, which is slated to be demolished and replaced with a larger facility.

As of Monday morning, 39 inmates and 21 DOC staff had tested positive for the coronavirus citywide.

A civilian investigator for DOC on March 15 died from the virus, becoming the first member of the city’s municipal workforce to succumb to the outbreak.

The department’s decision to make more space for inmates on Rikers comes as Mayor Bill de Blasio has called for 200 more vulnerable Rikers inmates to be released — in addition to the 68 who have already been set free.

Meanwhile, NYPD data has shown a steep drop in crime rates while the virus ravages New York.