The Detroit Free Press reports that prisoners and staff at a state correctional facility in Michigan are now being tested daily for the coronavirus after the detection of the highly contagious B.1.1.7 variant of coronavirus. The variant, which first appeared in the United Kingdom in September, spreads more easily than other previously identified strains. [...]
Michigan Public Radio reports that Michigan Department of Corrections is sending test results to labs to look for coronavirus variants. The variant of the virus from the United Kingdom (B.1.1.7) is thought to be about 50% more transmissionable than the original strain. It was first detected in Washtenaw County in mid-January and their are concerns that it [...]
A faster-spreading variant of coronavirus has been discovered for the first time at a Michigan prison reports Patch.com. The report notes that MDOC officials said an employee at the Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility in Ionia had tested positive for B.1.1.7, otherwise known as the U.K. variant of the coronavirus. It is the first known [...]
The Guardian reports that the question of when, "2.3 million incarcerated Americans will receive the vaccine depends largely on where they are detained." Many vaccination plans have been in flux over the last few months because of politics - who gets vaccinated and when. Unfortunately this means many prisoners risk dying in prison. One [...]
The Michigan Daily reports that activists and students are criticizing Michigan's COVID immunization plan for not prioritizing individuals in prison. As COVID cases continue to rise in Michigan's prisons, activists and families of those in Michigan prisons are pressing for prisoners to have priority for vaccination because of living conditions in prison. Read more: [...]
Traverse City Record Eagle reports that just as vaccination efforts begin in Michigan’s prisons, the data shows that the state has some of the highest COVID-19 infection and death rates in the nation. Michigan’s Department of Corrections suggests that due to wide-scale testing across the Michigan’s prison population that this may indicate that other [...]
Deadline Detroit reports that fewer Michigan prisoners were actually released in the pandemic's first year. As Covid-19 rages in Michigan’s prisons, delivering death sentences to more than 120 people who didn't earn them, the Michigan Department of Corrections has insisted it’s doing everything in its power to keep inmates safe. But that hasn’t included [...]
The Lansing State Journal reports that advocates are calling on Michigan to start prioritizing inmates for vaccination as COVID spreads through the state's prison system. The coronavirus has taken a staggering toll on Michigan prisons. More than 23,700 inmates have tested positive, Michigan Department of Corrections figures show, and 127 have died. The state's prison population [...]
The Saginaw Correctional Facility is in the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak, with more than half of the inmates there testing positive reports mlive.com. Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz noted that 774 inmates at Saginaw Correctional Facility are currently testing positive with 300 prisoners previously positive but now medically cleared and considered [...]
ABC affiliate WZZM 13 reports that a coalition of groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, are urging the governor's office and the state health department director to prioritize the vaccination of people who are incarcerated. Currently all state of Michigan prison facilities have had outbreaks of COVID-19 and 123 prisoners have [...]
