"A STORM IS COMING"
"A Storm is Coming" - Doctors Warn of COVID-19 Wave Racking US Prisons
Doctors are warning that the huge numbers of inmates locked inside large
communal cells, often with dozens of other people, a perfect breeding ground
for disease.
by Alan Macleod
March 20th, 2020
By Alan Macleod
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Amid the worsening COVID-19 pandemic, doctors across the United States are
warning that prisons are a ticking time bomb. Dr. Ross MacDonald, the Chief
Medical Officer for Correctional Health Services in New York City, sent a
dire warning to city and state legislators yesterday.
"We who care for those you detain noticed how swiftly you closed your courts
in response to COVID-19. This was fundamentally an act of social distancing,
a sound strategy in public health. But the luxury that allows you to protect
yourselves, carries with it an obligation to those you detain. You must not
leave them in harm's way," he wrote, ominously adding that, "a storm is
coming" and claiming they could no longer look the other way.
While prisons are very good at stopping humans from exiting the premises,
they are powerless to stop viruses from entering. And while the traditional
image of American jails is that of isolated inmates, perhaps sharing a cell
with only one other person, the reality is that huge numbers are actually
locked inside large communal cells, often with dozens of other people, a
perfect breeding ground for disease. There are around 2.3 million Americans
currently incarcerated, and the prison system is at over 100 percent of its
capacity as a whole.
While various states' authorities have claimed to be taking extra
precautions against the virus, Illinois prisoners report having no access to
even basic sanitary products like soap or cleaning supplies, putting them at
extra risk.
Iran, a country with a relatively conservative government, has released
around 85,000 prisoners in an effort to combat the spread of COVID-19. The
U.S. has begun to do the same, but only in drips. In an op-ed in the
Washington Post, health experts wrote that "Unless government officials act
now, the novel coronavirus will spread rapidly in our jails and prisons,
endangering not only prisoners and corrections workers but the general
public as well," recommending that authorities should release all those that
do not pose an immediate danger to the public, and also to reduce arrests
and delay sentencing. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, however, have
used the opportunity to increase their assault on undocumented workers.
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