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April 2, 2020

Coronavirus in U.S. Jails a "Public Health Disaster Unfolding Before Our Eyes"
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In the United States, a third prisoner has died of COVID-19 at the
Oakdale federal prison in Louisiana. There are confirmed cases in
prisons or ICE jails in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas,
Arkansas, Pennsylvania, California, Nevada, Colorado, Minnesota, Ohio,
Kentucky, Maryland, Vermont, New Jersey, and in Illinois, where a
59-year-old prisoner died of COVID-19 at the Stateville prison near
Joliet. In Detroit, a Michigan Department of Corrections officer died of
COVID-19 on Tuesday, and more than 140 prisoners have tested positive.

Here in New York City, the top physician at the Rikers Island jail said
it's now unlikely officials will be able to halt the spread of COVID-19,
predicting 20% of those infected will need hospitalization and 5% will
require ventilators. Dr. Ross Mac Donald called the situation at Rikers
a "public health disaster unfolding before our eyes." Prisoners report
they're packed 50 to a dorm, sleeping 15 inches apart with no access to
soap, gloves, sanitizer or bleach.

The United States is the world's largest incarcerator by far, with 2.3
million people behind bars.


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