An Imperfect Storm: Identifying the Root Causes of COVID-19 Outbreaks in the World’s Largest Corrections Systems

Locked up While Locked Down: Prisoners’ Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…high levels of chronic respiratory illness). These predictions have been borne out in prisons around the world, with infection and death rates in custody far higher than in the community ( Byrne et al 2020 b : 894). Thus, in England and Wales, between March 2020 and February 2021, the COVID-19 death rate among prisoners was 3.3 times higher than among people of the same age and gender in the general population ( Braithwaite et al 2021 : 1).…”

“…quarantining infected inmates), and (3) ‘back-end’, ‘to reduce the risk of infection among vulnerable subgroups’ (e.g. early release of elderly inmates) ( Byrne et al 2020 b : 883). While the effectiveness of strategies for reducing the COVID-19 transmission in prisons is yet to be established ( Malloy et al 2021 ), it is increasingly clear that some strategies ‘may have serious unintended consequences for prisoners’ ( Byrne et al 2020 b : 890), i.e.…”

“…early release of elderly inmates) ( Byrne et al 2020 b : 883). While the effectiveness of strategies for reducing the COVID-19 transmission in prisons is yet to be established ( Malloy et al 2021 ), it is increasingly clear that some strategies ‘may have serious unintended consequences for prisoners’ ( Byrne et al 2020 b : 890), i.e. effects outside the avowed objectives ( Oliver et al 2019 : 63) to ‘preserve life’ and ‘safeguard the mental and physical health’ of prisoners and staff ( Ministry of Justice and HM Prison and Probation Service 2020 : 2) (e.g.…”

“…This article answers the call to assess unintended consequences of in-prison mitigation strategies ( Byrne et al 2020 b : 897) by exploring prisoners’ lived experiences of the pandemic, captured through correspondence research with transgender and non-binary prisoners in England and Wales from April 2020 to April 2021. Our unique longitudinal data, systematically collected through written dialogues sustained over a year and encompassing numerous aspects of respondents’ lives, are much richer and allow us to examine experiences in greater depth than the single-point data utilized in grey literature, namely, prisoners’ views gathered through brief conversations during short visits/teleconferences ( HM Chief Inspector of Prisons 2020 a ; Independent Monitoring Boards 2020 ), one-hour interviews ( HM Inspectorate of Prisons 2021 ), phone messages to National Prison Radio ( Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody 2020 ), and single letters (the Prison Reform Trust (2020 a ; 2020 b ; 2021 ) CAPPTIVE project), that did not allow researchers to follow-up, clarify and investigate respondents’ views in detail.…”

Incarcerated people should be prioritised for covid-19 vaccination

“…In most countries, the covid-19 infection rate is consistently higher in prisons than in the community, including those with the largest prison systems: China, India, and the United States 1. Many of the largest cluster outbreaks in the US have occurred in prisons.…”