The Detroit Free Press reports on families and advocates protesting Michigan's Department of Corrections handling of the pandemic as cases continue to grow inside Michigan's prisons. More than 95 prisoners have died so far. Advocate Zoe Jackson noted, "There are actions that could've been taken at a state level but nothing has been done. [...]
ABC News reports on how prison inmates face big risks of COVID virus exposure but are nowhere near the top of the list to get vaccinated in many states. They also report that, "Michigan has decided to treat prisoners like everyone else, vaccinating them based on their age and health problems and not prioritizing them [...]
NPR reports that with no clear indication if and when vaccines will be given to prisoners, advocates and prisoners are calling on states and the federal government to do more to reduce COVID exposure in prisons. Hear more: https://news.wbfo.org/post/advocates-call-changes-prisons-reduce-inmates-exposure-coronavirus
Radio station WDET reports that COVID-19 continues to spread through Michigan's prison system. Outlier Media's Joey Horan says that the Michigan Department of Corrections is not doing enough to protect inmates, staff and the communities they might touch outside. Horan notes that, "people are intentionally packed in like sardines," which makes controlling spread of COVID-19 [...]
The Detroit Free Press reports that, "The number of active COVID-19 virus cases among Michigan's prisoners has reached... an all-time high during the pandemic, with 4,690 current infections in facilities across the state." All of Michigan's 29 prisons have at least one active coronavirus infection among prisoners or staff. The Central Michigan Correctional Facility [...]
Sootoday reports that there are more than 800 active COVID cases reported in Chippewa County prisons. Kinross Correctional Facility has 776 prisoners and 40 corrections staff testing positive with COVID. 775 of these cases still considered active and no deaths have been reported.
The Detroit Free Press reported on October 26 that, "The novel coronavirus has torn through a prison in Marquette, infecting 75% of the more than 1,000 men housed there." The article also notes, "42% of the 327 employees at Marquette Branch Prison in the Upper Peninsula had tested positive for COVID-19... A recent surge in [...]
The Detroit Free Press reported that cases among Marquette prison staff doubled in one day. The Michigan Department of Corrections reported 41 new COVID-19 cases among Marquette's staff, bringing the total number of employee cases to 79. The prison along Lake Superior has the highest number of infections among employees of the state's 29 correctional facilities.
WKAR reported that nearly one in five prisoners in Michigan prisons have been infected with COVID since the pandemic began. They note that more than 1,200 people in Michigan prisons are infected right now. Most of them are in four prisons: Marquette, Newberry, and two facilities in Ionia. MDOC spokespeople have noted that only [...]
The Appeal posted an article on October 19th investigating the impact of COVID-19 on prisons, their staff and population, and rural communities where the prisons are located. They noted the following data from Cascade County, Montana: Roughly a quarter of all known cases in Cascade County—where the local hospital’s 27-bed COVID-19 unit is at capacity—are [...]
