As of this month, Philadelphia has reported 1,776 COVID-19 cases among inmates in the city s prison system, including 305 symptomatic cases and 1,471 asymptomatic cases. The city s four jails hold about 4,837 inmates, a number that has declined approximately 40% since July 2015.
At the start of the pandemic, as asymptomatic spread became a significant concern in congregate settings like prisons, fear emerged among both inmates and corrections staff that COVID-19 would spread unchecked. At times, prisons dealt with outbreaks and implemented shelter in place policies that restricted movement.
The plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit argued that limited out-of-cell time may have contributed to the virus spreading in city jails, especially given the lack of hygienic protocols and supplies for inmates.
COVID-19 and prisons: Philadelphia settled in lawsuit for owing prisoners time outside the cell
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Philly agrees to $125K fine for not expanding out-of-cell time
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Councilmembers of Philadelphia’s Public Safety and Inmate advocates question the vaccination efforts of the Department of Prisons
The Covid-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on vaccination attempts being done by the Philadelphia Department of Prisons. This spotlight was shone at a Joint Committee meeting of the Philadelphia City Council on March 17 as they questioned the testing efforts of the prison department, as well as Covid-19 positivity rates in the prisons.
Philadelphia Department of Prisons releases a daily census of positivity rates and mortalities. There’s about 1136 adult males in the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center (PICC) with COVID-19 according to the Department of Public Health’s website. In addition, there’s 32 juvenile males in Riverside Correctional Facility (RCF) with COVID-19. Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility (CFCF) has the highest positivity rates in the PDP system with 2326 male prisoners with COVID-19.