One in five U.S. inmates contracted coronavirus as prison staff partied without masks

One in five state and federal prisoners in the United States 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 inmates have been infected and over 1,700 have died, and the spread of the virus behind bars shows no signs of slowing down.

New cases in prisons this week reached their highest level since testing began in the spring, far surpassing previous highs in April and August, with more than 25,000 recorded infections.

Now, vaccine deployment poses tough decisions for politicians and policy makers. As the virus spreads largely unchecked behind bars, prisoners cannot socially outrun and depend on the state for their safety and well-being.

It comes as photos of California prison staff have emerged online without masks or social distancing.

The infection rates, as of Tuesday, were calculated by the AP and the Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the criminal justice system.

The calculations were based on data collected weekly in prisons since March.

Infection and death rates may be even higher because almost all prison systems now have far fewer prisoners than at the start of the pandemic, so the rates are a conservative estimate based on the largest known population. .

Almost all of the country’s prison systems have experienced significantly higher infection rates than the communities around them.

In establishments managed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, one in five inmates has had coronavirus. Twenty-four state prison systems had even higher rates.

Donte Westmoreland, 26, was recently released from Lansing Correctional Center in Kansas, where he contracted the virus while serving time for marijuana.

Some 5,100 prisoners have been infected in Kansas prisons, the third highest rate of COVID-19 in the country, behind only South Dakota and Arkansas.

In Arkansas, where more than 9,700 prisoners have tested positive and 50 have died, four in seven have had the virus.

“It was like I had been sentenced to death,” Westmoreland said.

Westmoreland lived with more than 100 men infected with the virus in an open dormitory, where he woke up regularly to find sick men on the floor, unable to get up on their own, he said.

“People are actually dying in front of me from this virus. It’s the scariest sight, he says.

Westmoreland said he sweated, shivering in his bunk until, six weeks later, he finally recovered.

Half of Kansas’ prisoners have been infected with COVID-19 – eight times the rate of cases among the state’s overall population.

Eleven prisoners died, including five at the prison where Westmoreland was held. Of the three prison workers who died in Kansas, two worked at the Lansing Correctional Center.

Prison workers have also been disproportionately affected. Four in five prison staff in North Dakota have contracted coronavirus. Nationwide, it’s one in five.

Facilities are often overcrowded and poorly ventilated. Dormitory-style accommodations, 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 noticeably substandard.

Nationwide, the death rate from COVID-19 among inmates is 45% higher than the overall rate.

“ If we are to end this pandemic – reduce infection rates, lower death rates, lower intensive care unit occupancy rates – we need to tackle infection rates in facilities. corrections, ” Dr Emily Wang, a professor at the Yale School of Medicine and co-author of the recent National Academies report, told the AP.

“Infections and deaths are extraordinarily high. They are wards of the state, and we have to face them.

It comes as the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office said it was examining photos showing prison staff partying.

Photos posted to Facebook show at least three of the correctional deputies at an indoor party last weekend with little to no masks or social distancing and where revelers shared a beer bong.

The photos surfaced as the county saw a surge in COVID-19 infections in the general population, as well as among sheriff’s office staff and inmates.

The Mercury News reported Thursday that more than 30 photographs and videos of the Dec. 6 party had been posted on a profile of a prison deputy registered under a pseudonym.

December 6 was the same day that Santa Clara County was locked up, which barred people from gathering with others outside of their own homes.

Photos suggest well more than three households – the gathering limit before the lockdown – were at the party.

The sheriff’s office said it was unaware of the party and will be reviewing the event.

“ As a law enforcement agency, we expect our employees to maintain and meet higher standards and take seriously the recommendations and guidelines set out by public health officials’ ‘the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

“The behavior described in the Facebook post in question is not representative of these expectations or of the agency as a whole.

‘If they are in fact the sheriff’s deputies, they are expected to adhere to public health guidelines and conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times, whether on duty or off. The matter is under study.

Correctional assistants account for nearly two-thirds of the 117 COVID-19 cases recorded since March involving sheriff’s office staff, as reported on its online public dashboard.

On Wednesday, 19 correctional assistants were listed with active infections, alongside 11 patrol assistants and five civilian employees.