Immediate, mass COVID-19 testing critical at federal prisons, ACLU and workers say

After thousands of state and federal correctional officers and incarcerated people have tested positive for coronavirus, groups are calling for all prison employees and incarcerated people to be tested.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Council of Prison Locals issued a call Thursday for the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to immediately begin mass testing of prison employees and incarcerated people, and institute “extreme proactive measures for those who are most vulnerable to COVID-19 infection,” according to a news release from the ACLU.

An epidemiological model from the ACLU showed that if jails and prisons are ignored, at least 200,000 people could die from coronavirus, according to the news release.

“The recently released numbers highlight one of the reasons jails and prisons across the country comprise 6 of the 10 largest hotspots of COVID-19 infection, putting both those who work and are incarcerated in them at increased risk of contracting this deadly disease,” Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, and Shane Fausey, president of the Council of Prison Locals C-33, said in a statement in the news release. “We believe that there are likely thousands of additional cases among officers and incarcerated people that haven’t been reported because of the lack of testing.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday that as of April 21, nearly 4,900 cases and 88 deaths of incarcerated and detained people had been reported. More than 2,700 cases and 15 deaths among staff members had been reported as well, according to the CDC.

“Prompt identification of persons with COVID-19 and consistent application of prevention measures within correctional and detention facilities are critical to protecting incarcerated or detained persons, staff members, and the communities to which they return,” the CDC said in the report.

This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 6:50 PM with the headline "Immediate, mass COVID-19 testing critical at federal prisons, ACLU and workers say."