Dec 22, 2020
DETROIT (AP) Families of men incarcerated at Michigan’s Kinross Correctional Facility believed its remote location would spare it from a deadly COVID-19 outbreak. For a while, they seemed to be right.
Kinross, built on the grounds of a former Air Force base in the Upper Peninsula, is closer to Canada than it is to Detroit. Unlike most prisons in Michigan, Kinross had remained almost unscathed by the novel coronavirus with only one case between March and October.
But on Oct. 28, corrections officials transferred nine prisoners to Kinross from Marquette Branch Prison, several hours west, where COVID-19 was running rampant. There were 837 confirmed cases by late October, 350 of which were still active when the men were transferred.
Dec 22, 2020
DETROIT (AP) Families of men incarcerated at Michigan’s Kinross Correctional Facility believed its remote location would spare it from a deadly COVID-19 outbreak. For a while, they seemed to be right.
Kinross, built on the grounds of a former Air Force base in the Upper Peninsula, is closer to Canada than it is to Detroit. Unlike most prisons in Michigan, Kinross had remained almost unscathed by the novel coronavirus with only one case between March and October.
But on Oct. 28, corrections officials transferred nine prisoners to Kinross from Marquette Branch Prison, several hours west, where COVID-19 was running rampant. There were 837 confirmed cases by late October, 350 still active when the men were transferred.
COVID-19 spikes follow in prisons after inmate transfers
by Cary Aspinwall Of The Marshall Project And Ed White Of The Associated Press, The Associated Press
Posted Dec 21, 2020 6:07 am EDT
Last Updated Dec 21, 2020 at 6:12 am EDT
FILE - In this July 9, 2020, file photo, a correctional officer closes the main gate at San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, Calif. In prisons around the country, COVID-19 outbreaks have followed transfers of prisoners or prison workers. Families of those who’ve died from the virus in California prisons have directly blamed transfers for the uncontrolled spread of disease, including an outbreak at San Quentin State Prison that led to 28 deaths. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)
As COVID-19 infections soar, prisoners and corrections officers worry that transferring people between facilities is causing outbreaks. Jennifer Gross holds photos of herself with fiancé Robert Vermett, who is incarcerated at Michigan’s Kinross Correctional Facility and recovering from COVID-19. Carlos Osorio/Associated Press Coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, criminal justice and immigration.
DETROIT Families of men incarcerated at Michigan’s Kinross Correctional Facility believed its remote location would spare it from a deadly COVID-19 outbreak. For a while, they seemed to be right.
Kinross, built on the grounds of a former Air Force base in the Upper Peninsula, is closer to Canada than it is to Detroit. Unlike most prisons in Michigan, Kinross had remained almost unscathed by the coronavirus with only one case between March and October.