What’s Keeping Thousands In Prison During COVID-19?
In U.S. prisons there have been over 55,000 known cases of Covid-19 and over 600 deaths (including corrections officers) since the pandemic started, a predictable situation that advocates have been warning about from the start. A recent study shows that people in prison are over five times more likely to contract Covid-19, and three times more likely to die from the disease if they contract it. Due to poor access to basic hygiene products and close quarters, prisons have long been hotbeds of disease outbreaks, and prisons across the country have housed some of the worst clusters of Covid-19 cases since April.
The Constitution requires that prison officials and governments protect incarcerated people from the inevitable continued spread of Covid-19 behind bars.