One in five state and federal inmates in the US has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
The rate is more than four times that of the general population, according to data collected by The Associated Press and The Marshall Project.
More than 276,000 prisoners have been infected and more than 1,700 have died, and the spread of the virus behind bars shows no sign of slowing down.
New cases in prisons this week hit their highest levels since the tests started in the spring, far ahead of previous peaks in April and August, with more than 25,000 infections recorded.
Now the rollout of vaccines poses difficult decisions for politicians and policymakers. Because the virus spreads largely uncontrolled behind bars, prisoners are unable to distance themselves socially and are dependent on the state for their safety and well-being.
It comes when photos surfaced online of California prison staff partying without masks or social aloofness.
More than 276,000 state and federal inmates have contracted the coronavirus, meaning the infection rate is one in five
At least 1,736 people have died from COVID-19, indicating that the death rate is 45% higher than the national figure
South Dakota has the highest number of infected inmates with 6,228 per 10,000, followed by Arkansas and Kansas. Pictured: An inmate is led from his cell to the east of the block on death row at San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, California
Infection rates were calculated as of Tuesday by the AP and The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization dealing with the criminal justice system.
The calculations are based on data collected weekly in prisons since March.
Infection and death rates can be even higher because almost every prison system today has significantly fewer inmates than when the pandemic started, so the numbers represent a conservative estimate based on the largest known population.
Almost every prison system in the country has seen significantly higher rates of infection than the communities around them.
In facilities operated by the federal Bureau of Prisons, one in five inmates has had the coronavirus. Twenty-four state prison systems have seen even higher rates.
Donte Westmoreland, 26, was recently released from the Lansing Correctional Facility in Kansas, where he contracted the virus while on a marijuana charge.
About 5,100 inmates have been infected in Kansas prisons, the third highest COVID-19 rate in the country, behind only South Dakota and Arkansas.
In Arkansas, where more than 9,700 inmates have tested positive and 50 have died, four out of seven have had the virus.
“It was as if I had been sentenced to death,” said Westmoreland.
Westmoreland lived with more than 100 virus-infected men in an open dormitory, where he woke up regularly to see men lying sick on the floor, unable to get up on their own, he said.
‘People are dying in front of me from this virus. It’s the scariest sight, he said.
Westmoreland said he was sweating, shivering in his cage until he finally recovered six weeks later.
Half of Kansas inmates are infected with COVID-19 – eight times the number of cases among the state’s total population.
Nationally, one in five prison staff has tested positive with a morality rate of 0.1%
Donte Westmoreland, 26 (pictured), was infected with COVID-19 while in the Lansing Correctional Facility. Six weeks later he recovered. Pictured: Westmoreland upon release, December 15
Eleven inmates died, including five in the prison where Westmoreland was being held. Of the three prison workers who died in Kansas, two worked at the Lansing Correctional Facility.
Prison staff have also been disproportionately affected. In North Dakota, four in five prison staff have contracted the corona virus. This is one in five nationally.
Facilities are often overcrowded and poorly ventilated. Dorm-style housing, cafeterias, and open-bar cell doors make quarantine nearly impossible.
In addition, prison populations are on average sicker than the general population and health care behind bars is notoriously sub-par.
Nationally, the death rate for COVID-19 among inmates is 45 percent higher than the overall figure.
“If we want to end this pandemic – lower infection rates, lower death rates, lower ICU occupancy rates – we need to tackle infection rates in correctional facilities,” said Dr. Emily Wang, a professor at the Yale School of Medicine. co. author of the recent National Academies report, told the AP.
Infections and deaths are extraordinarily high. These are divisions of the state, and we are dealing with them. ‘
Photos appeared on Facebook of a December 6 in Santa Clara County prison staff partying without masks or social distance (left and right). The county sees a surge in the number of COVID-19 infections among the general population as well as among sheriff’s office workers and prison inmates
It comes as the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office said it is investigating photos of prison staff partying.
Photos posted to Facebook show at least three correctional deputies at an indoor party last weekend with little to no mask or social aloofness and where partygoers shared a beer pipe.
The photos surfaced as the county sees a surge in the number of COVID-19 infections among the general population, as well as among sheriff’s office workers and prison inmates.
The Mercury News reported on Thursday that more than 30 photos and videos from the December 6 party had been posted on the profile of a prison deputy registered under an alias.
December 6 was the same day that Santa Clara County closed, preventing people from congregating with others outside of their own household.
The photos suggest that well over three households – the pre-lockdown collection limit – were at the party.
The sheriff’s office said it was unaware of the party and would review the event.
“As a law enforcement agency, we expect our employees to hold themselves and each other to a higher standard and take the recommendations and guidelines of public health officials seriously,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The behavior depicted in the affected Facebook post is not representative of these expectations or the agency as a whole.
If they are in fact sheriff deputies, they are expected to adhere to public health guidelines and behave professionally at all times, both on and off duty. The case is under investigation. ‘
Correctional deputies account for nearly two-thirds of the 117 COVID-19 cases registered since March involving the sheriff’s office workers, as reported on the public online dashboard.
As of Wednesday, 19 correctional deputies were on the active infections list, in addition to 11 patrol deputies and five civilian personnel.