COVID-19 and Vulnerable Populations

On March 11th, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus (COVID-19) a world wide pandemic. COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus.

“Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment. Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness.” - World Health Organization.

Covid-19 is now a normal part of life for all of us here in the United States. As a country, we have taken steps to mitigate the damage from COVID-19, like social distancing, more routine hand washing, and wearing of mask in public spaces. Not to mention the unprecedented buying of toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

Earlier this year, I decided to do some research on the virus. Because of the rapidly changing news, I was led in many different directions. My attention was caught when I started to read and listen to podcast discussing the vulnerability of prison populations to infectious deceases. Coronavirus effects on human rights podcast

_{(clarification jail can be used to describe a place for those awaiting trial or held for minor crimes,
whereas prison describes a place for convicted criminals of serious crimes.)}

In this podcast the host talked about how prison and jail populations can be particularly effected by a virus like COVID-19. It is nearly impossible to prevent the spread of the virus in these locations because of the close living quarters. This makes taking the same precautions much harder especially with large prison populations.

The United States has the largest prison population in the world. Around the world, cities and even countries, have wrestled with what to do to prevent the spread of the virus in prisons. Three countries took action early on in the global pandemic to lower the population size of these facilities, and the USA has taken note from their actions.

Iran, Brazil, Italy, With the constant changing numbers in early March, Iran was the largest location of new cases outside of China. Also, Iran confirmed that they would temporarily free 54,000 prisoners in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19. A quick response to the growing number of COVID-19 cases. As of today, Iran has released over 80,000 prisoners.

Brazil:

Brazil has the fourth largest prison population in the world. On March 16th, hundreds of prisoners were not allowed to leave the semi-open facility for Easter holidays. During this time visitor restrictions were also tightened. This lead to riots in facilities and hundreds of prisoners escaping from semi-open prisons in São Paulo, a state in the south-eastern region of Brazil. With the over crowding of Brazilian prisons there is a very real fear of the spread of COVID-19. Article

Italy:

Italy, one of the most affected countries in the early parts of the pandemic, had their share of problems dealing with COVID-19. Similar to Brazil, Italy has seen riots and escapes of prisoners due to fear of coronavirus. The Italian government adopted a decree that allowed prisoners with less than 18 months left on their sentences early release. This unfortunately was not enough because in early March, 50 prisons in Italy experienced riots due to anxiety and restrictions placed by prison authorities. In addition to these restrictions, there have been measures taken to provide prisoners and guards masks, gloves, and routine temperature checks. _{(March 2020)}

United States:

These examples are only a few of prisoner releases around the globe in an attempt to stem the spread of COVID-19. As of late March the United States has started to release prisoners from cities around the country following in the path of Iran. Prison response in the USA

In Hawaii, 655 people have been released early from state prisons. Since early March, the state-wide jail population has dropped about 37%.
In Los Angeles County, CA, the jail population has decreased by about 30% since early March. (See jail releases section.)
Only three states have not suspended medical co-pays for people in state prisons: Nevada, Hawaii, and Delaware. (See medical co-pays section.)

According to the PrisonPolicy website United States, many jails are implementing the necessary changes to their population size to help curb the possible spread of the virus. Now prisons have the chance to release inmates who are close to the end of their sentence, who have nonviolent offenses, the elderly, and those who pose no more threat to society in order to prevent overcrowding of their facilities. Unfortunately, most prisons are not releasing as many inmates when compared to the local jails. The with possible second wave the of infections, as a country we need to be prepared continue to reduce the risk in any way we can.