COVID-19 came like a sharp blow at the Indiana Women’s Prison
The latest news reveals that a staff member at the Indiana Women’s Prison is the latest death from the COVID-19 connected victims with the Indiana Department of Corrections. The woman is the second staff member dead during the pandemic. The first staff member to die from the new virus was a 67-year old correction officer, who experienced complications and passed away on Saturday. The identity and position of the second victim haven’t yet been released.
Until now, over 130 staff members and around 300 offenders have been tested positive with the virus at IDOC facilities. The authorities report that over 3,600 offenders are in quarantine and an additional of 600 in isolation.
The sad news is that most of the inmates will probably get the virus sooner or later because there’s impossible for correctional institutions to adopt social distancing. The Indiana Department of Correction states that the average security facility hosts over 3000 inmates. At the moment, the authorities cannot tell if the virus affects specific racial communities.
And the sad news continues
A correctional facility in Westville Indiana tested all its inmates, and 90% of them are confirmed with the coronavirus. The reports show that more than 50% of the state’s confirmed prison cases are at the Westville facility, and it’s impossible to stop the spread. The Indiana Department of Corrections decided to suspend all personal visits and release low-level offenders to lower the impact of the disease. The last thing authorities want is inmates to get their families sick during visit hours.
The latest report stated that the Indiana Department of Correction has around 240 coronavirus cases among offenders. Until now, 3 inmates died due to complications related to the pandemic, and one of them was at the Westville facility. The two other victims were imprisoned at the Plainfield Correctional Facility, where other 50 people have been diagnosed with the condition.
Because some low-level offenders were released and relatives can no longer visit inmates, families find it challenging to contact them. The people who cannot locate their loved ones in prison can use an inmate search directory to find out if their loved ones are in a correctional institution, and where they are.
Few supplies and tight quarters encourage virus spread
Correctional institutions aren’t ready to face a pandemic. Most of the prisons went on lockdown the last weeks to control the virus spread. The solution prevents the virus from infecting people outside the institution, but it doesn’t stop it from sickening the inmates. Three or four women are stuck in the same room at the Indiana Women’s Prison in Indianapolis, and they have no hand sanitizer, running water or cleaning supplies.
They need to travel the hallways to reach the restroom, and so get in touch with dozens of people when they eat. Inmates are scared even to drink water because they’ll have to use the bathroom and meet other people. The rooms are so tight they cannot reach their bed without putting their arms on the other people’s belongings.
Both inmates and correction officer are scared because they’re facing a nerve-wrecking situation.