While the pandemic has been particularly brutal in the United States in general, the situation has been much worse for those living in the worldâs largest system of incarceration. According to a recent New York Times report, 34 out of 100 people in prisons across the country have contracted the virus, more than triple the rate of the general US population. During the pandemic, an average of seven people locked behind bars have died of Covid-19 every day. One immigration detention center in Virginia saw a nearly 100% infection rate. The real overall numbers are most likely higher due to inconsistent and poor testing measures. Many inmates, like the 3,800 who were infected at the Fresno, California, county jail, have not yet been to trial.