Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/NEW YORK: Deaths in state and federal prisons in the United States surged by nearly 50 percent during the first year of the pandemic, jumping more than double in six states, according to The New York Times, which cited the first comprehensive data on prison fatalities in the COVID-19 era.
Death in 2020 in the US
The tremendous surge in deaths in 2020 was more than twice the increase in the country overall, and even exceeded estimates of the percentage increase at nursing homes, among the hardest-hit sectors nationwide. High rates continued in many states in 2021, the data showed.
While there was plenty of evidence that prisons were COVID-19 hotspots, the data highlighted how quickly the virus spread through overcrowded facilities, and how an aging inmate population, a correctional staffing shortage and ill-equipped medical personnel combined to make prisoners especially vulnerable during the century’s worst public health.
