Alarm Grows For Federal Prison Inmates, Workers As Testing And Treatment Resources Fall Short
Red tape and contract restrictions mire Bureau of Prison officials' efforts to secure enough staff and personal protective equipment. Outbreak news from jails in D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts and Louisiana is reported, as well.
ABC News:
Federal Prisons Facing Shortages Of Resources Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
Federal prison officials are growing increasingly alarmed about a shortage of resources to test and treat prisoners and workers exposed to COVID-19. Across the Bureau of Prisons' vast network of 122 facilities, at least 29 inmates and 30 staff members have been infected. Officials are scrambling to secure enough staffing and personal protective equipment, or PPE, to meet the need, battling a bureaucracy that has been slow to adapt to the crisis. (Barr, 4/1)
The Washington Post:
As Inmates In D.C., Maryland And Virginia Test Positive For The Coronavirus, Jail Officials Scramble To Reduce The Risk
From his cell at the D.C. jail, Kamal Dorchy has spent the past few days writing what he described as “goodbye” letters to his mother, father, ex-wife and 5-year-old daughter. He is afraid he could be the next to get sick. Eight of his fellow inmates in the Southeast Washington jail have tested positive for the novel coronavirus within the past eight days, quarantined and weakened with fever or chronic coughing. (Alexander, Morse and Hsu, 4/1)
NBC News:
Inmates In Washington, D.C., Sue Over Coronavirus Fears, Claim Staff Not Taking Precautions
Four inmates at a jail in Washington, D.C., filed a class-action lawsuit this week alleging that staff members are not taking proper safety precautions, putting the inmates at risk of being infected with the coronavirus. The lawsuit claims that inmates at the Central Detention Facility and a treatment center next door were showing symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, but were denied tests and had to wait days before they could get medical treatment. (Burke, 4/1)
WBUR:
Mass. High Court Considers Releasing Some Prisoners To Prevent COVID-19 Outbreak
Should Massachusetts release some prisoners to stem the spread of COVID-19 in jails and prisons?That question is now before the state's highest court. And it's a question that's highlighting some deep divisions — even among state law enforcement agencies. (Becker, 4/1)
New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Coronavirus Could Spark Outbreak In 'Petri Dish' Immigration Facilities In Louisiana, Advocates Warn
Two weeks ago, immigration detainees at a private prison in LaSalle Parish protested their incarceration as the novel coronavirus spread across Louisiana. One claimed they were crammed 90 men to a dorm with five toilets and limited soap. What happened next is in dispute between asylum seekers and officials, but the episode ended with officers unleashing pepper spray on detainees. (Sledge and Stole, 4/1)
