Brittany Whiting worries it’s just a matter of time until her fiance gets COVID-19.

And neither of them can do anything about it.

That’s because Ramarco Jarret is serving a two-year sentence for drug trafficking at the Belmont Correctional Institution in St. Clairsville in eastern Ohio.

Whiting, who lives in Springfield, said that because of crowded prison conditions, odds are high that he’ll contract the coronavirus before his sentence is up in June 2021.

Ohio inmates and prison staff are among the most at-risk during the pandemic. Ohio inmates and prison staff are among the most at-risk during the pandemic. As of Friday, 3,837 of the state’s 48,000 prisoners and 358 prison employees have tested positive for COVID-19. Seventeen inmates and one correction officer have died.

At Belmont Correctional, 30 inmates and one employee have been infected.

"There is no way to escape the inevitable," Whiting said. "They will probably all – all of the institutions – will end up like Marion and Pickaway."

Ohio prisons were thrust into the national spotlight this week as the Marion and Pickaway correctional institutions emerged as the country’s top two hot spots for the coronavirus, according to data compiled by The New York Times.

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Whiting traveled to Columbus on Friday to join dozens of other inmates’ families, their friends and advocates in a rolling protest to demand that Gov. Mike DeWine release by the end of May 20,000 low-level felony offenders and those considered to be nonviolent.

Protesters say that would help curtail the coronavirus in Ohio’s 28 prisons and other penal institutions. They also called for the release of inmates in county jails and those held on civil immigration charges.

Whiting said her fiance sleeps in a dorm with about 250 inmates. Bunk beds are just a few feet apart, making it impossible to practice social distancing, and he lacks personal hygiene supplies to protect himself from the virus.

"There’s too many people for the staff to keep track of," Whiting said. "There’s nothing they can do because there is not enough of them (employees), and there are too many incarcerated, and there’s not enough space."

Friday’s caravan of about 70 cars started outside the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction on Columbus’ West Side and ended Downtown at the Statehouse, where DeWine has a ceremonial office. Protesters wore protective masks that read "20K by May," and had signs on their cars that included: "Prisoners’ Lives Matter" and "Their Health Is Our Health."

The rally was organized by Ohio Organizing Collaborative, which advocates for social, racial and economic justice, and the Ohio Prison Justice League, a network of inmates’ families. Other similarly minded groups joined in support.

Tonya Randleman, of Sandusky, said she is concerned about her son, who is incarcerated in Lake Erie Correctional Institution. One employee there has the virus, she said. She also knows inmates at other facilities who are sick, including one diagnosed with COVID-19 in hard-hit Marion Correctional Institution.

"I understand a crime was committed – but they didn’t get a death sentence for their crime," she said. "Let them come home on house arrest and when this is all over they can go back and do their time. All we want is the inmates to be safe."

JoEllen Smith, spokeswoman for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said there is no shortage of cleaning supplies, and inmates have access to soap and other hygiene products, hand sanitizer and masks.

However, she acknowledged the challenges of social distancing in prisons.

"Congregate settings such as prisons are vulnerable to the spread of viruses, which is why we began limiting movement well before we had our first confirmed case. Most of the time, the physical layout of a correctional facility does not lend itself to isolating every inmate at all times, especially in lower level facilities where there is dormitory style living," Smith said.

At the Marion and Pickaway prisons, housing for inmates has expanded into other available areas and at Pickaway, the Ohio National Guard constructed a temporary housing structure to allow inmates more space.

DeWine said Friday that 366 inmates across Ohio were released as of Tuesday through a program that is letting prisoners go early who are within 90 days of completing their sentences. That brings the total released under the plan to 844.

But that’s not nearly enough for people trying to protect loved ones from the pandemic. They want DeWine to release certain low-level felony offenders, those considered nonviolent and those with health conditions that put them at higher risk of dying from the coronavirus.

Protest organizer Chazidy Bowman, whose husband, Rufus Bowman, is incarcerated at Toledo Correctional Institution serving a nine-year sentence for aggravated robbery and felonious assault, said DeWine needs to take action to protect all Ohioans.

"The prison system is incapable of protecting people," she said.

Inmates have told their families of being closely housed with those who have tested positive, not being able to practice social distancing and not having access to hand sanitizer and other supplies to keep them safe and healthy.

Bowman, who lives in Cincinnati, fears the virus will spread and more inmates will die.

"It’s really scary for families," she said. "When will I get that dreaded call to say he’s tested positive?"

ccandisky@dispatch.com

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