The Marshall Project continues to track cases of COVID-19 and it's impact across US prisons. They note that a recent change by the Federal Bureau of Prisons to remove cases and deaths from its reports has reduced their ability to accurately track new cases or deaths in federal prisons. Read more: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/05/01/a-state-by-state-look-at-coronavirus-in-prisons [...]
Vaccines have slowly made their way into the prison system but not until more than a third of the people in jails and prisons became infected. In some cases, these facilities were the worst superspreaders — with infections spreading between prisoners and staff. Read more: https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2021/the-astonishing-toll-of-covid-19-in-jails-and-prisons/
Colorado, Connecticut, Vermont and Michigan had the highest testing rates among the 32 states studied for COVID-19 testing among inmate populations, according to a study released by the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice. Read more: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/04/01/michigan-prisons-covid-19-testing-inmate-deaths/4834926001/
Cases of the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant inside Michigan's prison system have more than tripled since an outbreak at a prison facility in Ionia last week. Michigan ranks second nationally for the highest number of B.1.1.7 variant cases, behind Florida, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This variant is considered [...]
A Michigan hospital and state corrections facility are among the workplaces cited by the state for coronavirus-related safety violations. Violations and fines were issued by the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration as a result of inspections that turned up inadequate safety measures and failures to protect workers. Read more: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/02/26/mdoc-mclaren-among-employers-cited-covid-19-violations/6840826002/ [...]
Fox News reports that of the nearly 900 positive cases of COVID-19 in the Michigan prison system, more than half of those cases are found in Ionia County. The Michigan Department of Corrections also noted that the UK variant of COVID-19 was found at Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility in Ionia. This strain is believed [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
