Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) represents a challenge to prisons because of close confinement, limited access to personal protective equipment, and elevated burden of cardiac and respiratory conditions that exacerbate COVID-19 risk among prisoners. 1 Although news reports document prison outbreaks of COVID-19, systematic data are lacking. 2 Relying on officially reported data, we examined COVID-19 case rates and deaths among federal and state prisoners. Methods | Counts of COVID-19 cases and presumed or confirmed deaths among prisoners were collected daily by the UCLA Law COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project from March 31, 2020, to June 6, 2020. 3 Counts were extracted daily from departments of corrections websites and, as needed, supplemented with news reports and press releases. Data included all states, the District of Columbia, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Cases were reported cumulatively (including active confirmed cases, recoveries, and decedents). Deaths attributable to COVID-19 were defined by each department of corrections based on the determination of the departments of corrections or external medical exam

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, case and death rates in US prisons substantially exceeded national rates. 1 Prison systems subsequently reported adopting several policies to contain COVID-19 spread, including limiting social interactions, distributing personal protective equipment, and expediting prisoner releases, 2,3 although failures of infection prevention and control have been documented. 2,4 We examined COVID-19 cases and deaths among US federal and state prisoners during the first 52 weeks of the pandemic and compared these rates with the overall US population, updating a previously published report analyzing COVID-19 incidence and mortality in prisons through June 6, 2020. 1 Methods | Counts of COVID-19 cases and deaths among prisoners in all 50 state prison systems and the Federal Bureau of Prisons were collected by the UCLA Law COVID Behind Bars Data Project for 52 weeks from April 5, 2020, to April 3, 2021. Counts were extracted from departments of corrections websites and, as needed, supplemented with data collected by the Marshall Project and the Associated Press. 5 To calculate rates of COVID-19 in prisons, we used total jurisdictional prison population data reported by the Vera Institute 3 for

Introduction Prior research has found coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases to be disproportionately prevalent among U.S. prisoners. Like prisoners, prison staff experience ventilation and social distancing hazards and may have limited access to testing, paid sick leave, personal protective equipment, and other workplace protections. Yet, systematic case surveillance among prison staff remains unexplored. The objective of this study is to document trends in COVID-19 cases among U.S. correctional staff relative to prisoners and the U.S. population. Methods Reports of COVID-19 cases among prisoners and staff were collected from state Departments of Corrections and the federal Bureau of Prisons from March 31, 2020 to November 4, 2020. In November 2020, this series of aggregated case records was linked to population estimates to calculate COVID-19 period prevalence among prison staff and residents with comparison to U.S. population trends. Results Within the prison environment, COVID-19 case burden was initially higher among staff than prisoners in 89% of jurisdictions. Case prevalence escalated more quickly among prisoners but has remained persistently high among staff. By November 4, 2020, COVID-19 was 3.2 times more prevalent among prison staff than the U.S. population. Conclusions Prison staff experienced substantially higher COVID-19 case prevalence than the U.S. population overall. Across prison staff and resident populations, cases were rapidly rising in November 2020, indicating poor outbreak containment within the prison environment. An Emergency Temporary Standard, issued by federal and state Occupational Safety and Health Administrations, and priority vaccination are urgently needed to reduce COVID-19 occupational risk. Reduced occupational transmission of COVID-19 will benefit workers, incarcerated people, and community members alike.

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