Thousands of inmates were set free or sent to home confinement to reduce the risk of large-scale outbreaks.
As the coronavirus storm was making landfall in the USA, prison and jail officials across the country anxiously braced for the onslaught.or sent to home confinement to reduce the risk of large-scale outbreaks. Visitation was halted, and isolation wards were designated for those who would be exposed.
"Due to the sheer size of our system, when you add one more thing to the equation, it's going to be a challenge," said Jeremy Desel, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which operates the largest state prison system in the country with 140,000 offenders."But the management of this is going as well as could be expected.
"It's like a darn Rubik's Cube," the sheriff said, referring to the hand-held puzzle game."You turn up the pressure one way, and see what you get."Amid mounting infections in the federal Bureau of Prisons last week, Attorney General William Barr announced a plan to expedite the release of especially vulnerable prisoners to home confinement from three prisons where authorities scrambled to contain outbreaks.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, noting three deaths at the federal prison in Elkton, ordered the temporary deployment of National Guard medics this week to assist with prisoner medical care there.Outbreak is 'ravaging the facility'calling for an expansion of home confinement, federal prison officials said they have moved 615 inmates from across the 122-prison system to serve out the remainder of their terms at home.
Ronald Morris, president of the union that represents Oakdale prison workers, said four hospitals have been treating the most seriously ill inmates. At least three, Morris said, were on ventilators.
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