COVID-19 Cases in U.S Prisons 5 Times Higher, Death Rate 3 Times Higher Than General Population, Study Says
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Coronavirus cases in U.S. prisons are five times higher than the general population and the death rate is three times higher, according to new research from Baltimore's Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Schools of Public Health.
Prisoners who tested positive for COVID-19 was 5.5 times higher than the general U.S. population -- with a case rate of 3,251 per 100,000 prisoners as compared to 587 cases person 100,000 for the general population.
Researchers also found the death rate was three times higher with 39 deaths per 100,000 prisoners versus 29 deaths per 100,000. That's after readjusting the numbers based on age and sex differences.
The study analyzed coronavirus data between March 31 and June 6. According to the study, cases of COVID grew 8.3 percent per day in prisons while it grew by 3.4 percent in the general population.
"While these numbers are striking, we actually think the disparities within prisons is much greater," says lead author Brendan Saloner, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Bloomberg School. "Some prisons are not reporting any cases, others are not even testing inmates, so the need for policies to protect incarcerated populations is more important than ever."
Bloomberg researchers collaborated with the UCLA Law COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project -- which collects data on prisoners from state and federal facilities.
They used CDC and local and state-level data to compare to the prison numbers.
There were 42,107 cases of COVID-19 and 510 deaths among 1,295,285 prison residents, during the span of the study, while among the U.S. population, there were 1,920,904 infections and 95,608 deaths.
Hopkins researchers say prison populations are especially vulnerable to the spread of highly infectious diseases like COVID-19 due to the close confinement, limited access to PPE and high rates of preexisting conditions.
"Prisoners have a right to adequate protection of their health while incarcerated," says Saloner. "The reality of these findings shows that we aren't coming anywhere close to meeting their basic needs. Ultimately, it creates a dangerous situation for the inmates, prison staff, the communities that prisons are located in, and in our overall effort to contain the crisis."