A Sharp Jump in Coronavirus Deaths in New York State: Live Updates

The jail’s warden has identified 537 prisoners as “particularly vulnerable” to the virus under federal health guidelines, says the suit, which was filed late Friday. Those prisoners, the suit argues, should be released “with appropriate precautionary public health measures.”

The suit, which was filed in Brooklyn federal court, coincides with a growing call by federal public defenders, elected officials and others for vulnerable prisoners to be freed from New York City’s two federal jails, which house a total of 2,500 prisoners, to stem the virus’s spread.

Several inmates and staff members at the Brooklyn jail, the Metropolitan Detention Center, have already been infected, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Risks to inmates have been heightened by a failure to take proper precautions, the suit says. Doctors have not checked on inmates in their units, staff members have not worn protective gear and the jail only has nine nasal swab test kits, according to a legal filing by Deirdre D. von Dornum, a lawyer with the federal defender’s office.

And, the suit says, education within the jail about the virus’s symptoms and how to curb its spread is limited.

Katie Rosenfeld, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said prisoners and family members were “terrified” that the jail would “very soon be overwhelmed with hundreds of people sick and dying inside the jail.”

The Bureau of Prisons said it did not comment on pending litigation.

M.T.A. leader tests positive for the coronavirus.

Patrick J. Foye, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, has tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said in a statement late Saturday. Mr. Foye is experiencing only mild symptoms and keeping a full schedule, the authority said.

“Pat was last in the office on Wednesday, maintained a safe social distance and was asymptomatic at that time,” said Abbey Collins, a spokeswoman for the authority., which oversees New York City’s subway and buses and two commuter railroads. “He worked remotely Thursday and Friday, following a previously arranged schedule.”

Reporting was contributed by Aaron Randle, Christina Goldbaum, Jesse McKinley Ed Shanahan, Katie Van Syckle, Ali Watkins and Benjamin Weiser.