Tight quarters, strained hygiene practices and guards moving to and from their community put prisons at risk of becoming coronavirus hotbeds
, for instance, it found that nearly 80 percent of inmates have or previously had the coronavirus.
Jails and prisons pose particular risks for spreading infectious diseases, said Dr. Carolyn Sufrin, an assistant professor and associate director at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine whose research includes prisons and jails. Some federal prisons have begun testing every inmate, regardless of whether or not they show symptoms due to the high number of cases already present or due to the number of high-risk inmates incarcerated at the facility. For example, mass testing at Federal Correctional Institution, Lompoc in California in May and Fort Worth’s Federal Medical Center in April revealed a high number of cases at each institution.
This disparity between the two states suggests that in states with limited testing, the spread of Covid-19 is likely larger than their numbers of recorded cases suggest. Chris Gautz, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Corrections, said his agency was aware that mass testing early could create the impression that Michigan prisons were uniquely hard-hit.
People with chronic illnesses, including cancer, high blood pressure, heart or lung disease, diabetes, have other conditions that compromise the immune system or that take medications that suppress the immune system, are all thought to be “most susceptible to serious complications” of Covid-19, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Incarcerated individuals are likelier than the general public to have many of these conditions.
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