Confronted with significant flaws in coronavirus data, Pa. corrections officials concede ‘it’s unacceptable’
Updated Jan 29, 2021;
Posted Jan 29, 2021
Sharon Murchison is photographed at her home on January 28, 2021, in Philadelphia, Pa. Department of Corrections officials are using faulty data to justify keeping prisoners longer behind bars, leaving families, advocates and data analysts in the dark on how bad it is inside. Murchinson has a husband and two brothers that are incarcerated. She recently testified at a hearing on the above matter.
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Story by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA
HARRISBURG The Department of Corrections is reporting flawed data to keep inmates, families, and public officials informed about COVID-19 in its prisons, raising questions about the agency’s ability to accurately track the extent of the outbreak.
Jose F. Moreno / Philadelphia Inquirer
The Department of Corrections is reporting flawed data to keep inmates, families, and public officials informed about COVID-19 in its prisons, raising questions about the agency’s ability to accurately track the extent of the outbreak.
A five-month analysis of prison data by Spotlight PA found large fluctuations in the number of tests administered and unexplained changes to the death count. The findings were confirmed by a California researcher who was also tracking the department’s data and had noticed problems.
“It’s one thing to have little mistakes here and there, but if it’s month after month that there’s many data reporting problems, it definitely causes me pause,” said Hope Johnson, a data fellow at UCLA’s COVID Behind Bars Project, which tracks COVID-19 infections in prisons nationwide.
Confronted with significant flaws in coronavirus data, Pennsylvania corrections officials concede it s unacceptable mcall.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mcall.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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HARRISBURG â The state Department of Corrections has doubled down on its policy not to always inform families of inmates who are sickened or killed by the coronavirus, saying itâs the responsibility of inmates to ensure their emergency contacts are complete and accurate.
Nonprofit organizations and attorneys point to a waiver issued by the federal government in March that gave hospitals the discretion to release such information to family and friends during a public health emergency. But the department said that waiver doesnât apply to prisons.
In a post to its website this month, the department said it will only release information to a single person listed as an emergency contact, regardless of whether that person is a family member or ânext of kin,â which is the typical process for authorities to notify a family of a death.
HARRISBURG — The state Department of Corrections has doubled down on its policy not to always inform families of inmates who are sickened or killed by the coronavirus, saying it’s