USA Today - 18.03.2020

NEWS E3 USA TODAY ❚ WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020 ❚ 3D

WASHINGTON – More than 500,000 inmates in the
nation’s largest prison systems were on near-lock-
down this week as authorities scrambled to guard
against outbreaks of the coronavirus.
California, Florida, Texas and the federal Bureau of
Prisons have all suspended visitation and largely re-
stricted the movement of prisoners within their sys-
tems.
The restrictions underscore the growing concern
for vulnerable populations living in close quarters
where seasonal illnesses often spread quickly.
The looming threat posed by the pandemic repre-
sents “one of the greatest fears for any prison director,”
said Laurie Robinson, a former assistant attorney gen-
eral who was part of a congressional task force that
examined the federal prison system in 2015.
“You have a confined population that already may
not be in the best of health due to prolonged drug use
and alcohol abuse,” Robinson said.
“There is often no way to set up an effective quaran-
tine” because prisoners are confined in small cells.
“You also have staff in those very close quarters that
makes them so vulnerable, too.”
Mary Price, general counsel for the prisoner advo-
cacy group Families Against Mandatory Minimums,
called on state and local governments to apply “com-
passionate release” provisions to allow elderly and
chronically ill inmates to serve out the remainder of
their sentences at home.
“Prison and jail medical units will rapidly be over-
run by a COVID-19 outbreak and will need as many
beds as possible for critical care patients,” Price said.
“It makes no sense to keep other people who are termi-
nally ill or medically debilitated occupying those
beds.”
Tuesday, a coalition of civil rights groups including
the Southern Poverty Law Center urged prison officials
in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida to release vul-
nerable inmates who no longer represent threats to
their communities.
Larry Levine, a federal prison consultant who pre-
pares offenders for incarceration, said inmates and
their families are expressing growing anxiety about
the threat, especially to those who have preexisting ill-
nesses.
“I have about eight people in medical facilities scat-
tered across the federal system,” Levine said. “They
are still getting their meds, but they are very worried
that the supply chain might run out given the shut-
down of businesses on the outside.”
The federal Bureau of Prisons, the nation’s largest
detention system with more than 170,000 inmates,
said the agency has prepared since January to deal
with coronavirus-related problems. It said no infec-
tions had been reported as of Tuesday.
Since Friday, the bureau has reported that six in-
mates in Seattle tested negative for the virus after ex-
hibiting flu-like symptoms. A staffer in Kentucky re-
mains in quarantine as a precaution after being ex-
posed to a confirmed case outside the system.
Late Friday, the agency suspended visitation at all
of its 122 facilities for at least 30 days. That includes
attorney-client meetings, except when approved by
prison authorities.
All inmate transfers and staff travel have been halt-
ed as well.
Shane Fausey, president of the federal prison work-
ers union, applauded the action as “unprecedented.”
“These extensive measures will help ensure the
safety and security of our facilities while protecting
our federal law enforcement officers that walk the
toughest neighborhoods in America,” Fausey said.

Similar restrictions have been announced by state

prison systems across the country. The largest, Cali-

fornia and Texas, reported no confirmed cases of the

virus as of Tuesday.

Authorities in California also put restrictions on

parole hearings, suspending in-person participation

of victims and prosecutors.

In Pennsylvania, authorities are no longer admit-

ting prisoners to three facilities. Two of the prisons

operate nursing homes for offenders; another serves

as an inmate cancer ward.

John Wetzel, chief of Pennsylvania’s prison sys-

tem, said the decision to restrict new admissions was

made over the weekend after learning of the in-

creased vulnerability to nursing homes across the

country, including in Washington state where the

outbreak has been deadly.

“Minute to minute, there could be an adjustment

in our operations,” Wetzel said of the 45,000 inmate

system.

“We’re monitoring conditions all of the time. ... We

have 25 prisons – at some point we are going to get a

case. The best-case scenario is that we are able to de-

lay that until cases in Pennsylvania start going down

and we get over the hump.”

Roger Werholtz, former director of the Kansas De-

partment of Corrections, said the actions by the fed-

eral government and states are encouraging. But the

agencies still face the challenge of safeguarding pris-

oners who cannot follow one of the key recommen-

dations to avoid contracting the virus: to limit social

interactions.

“This idea of social distancing cannot be achieved

in prison like we are asking the general public to do,”

Werholtz said. “And when you want to segregate peo-

ple from each other, you cannot do it in many cases. It

will be really difficult to lock down the population in

ways that can be beneficial.”

Megan Quattlebaum, head of the Council of State

Governments Justice Center, said state prison direc-

tors also must vet the medical histories of incoming

inmates.

“The pipeline to state prisons often runs through

the county jails,” she said, where screening practices

are not uniform nor controlled by state prison offi-

cials.

“There are myriad challenges,” Quattlebaum said.

“These are times for wrenching decisions. And I

haven’t talked to anybody who has taken these deci-

sions lightly.”

Inmates read and watch TV at the Travis County State Jail. Family members of inmates are calling on the
Texas Department of Criminal Justice to do more to protect inmates.JAY JANNER/USA TODAY NETWORK

Prisons lock down to

keep coronavirus out

Federal system holds 170,000

people, has no reported cases

Kevin Johnson
USA TODAY

A corrections officer sanitizes an entryway after a

new inmate arrived at the Worcester County Jail

and House of Correction on March 11.

ASHLEY GREEN/USA TODAY NETWORK

“This idea of social distancing cannot

be achieved in prison ...”

Roger Werholtz

Former director of the Kansas Department of Corrections

Americans overwhelmingly don’t believe what

they’re hearing from President Donald Trump about

the coronavirus, and their confidence in the federal

government’s response to it is declining sharply, ac-

cording to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.

Just 46% of Americans now say the federal govern-

ment is doing enough to prevent the spread of the

coronavirus, down from 61% in February.

And 37% of Americans now say they had a good

amount or a great deal of trust in what they’re hear-

ing from the president, while 60% say they had not

very much or no trust at all in what he’s saying. The

poll of 853 adults was conducted Friday and Satur-

day – before Trump’s latest news conference.

— USA TODAY Washington Bureau

Cases likely to rise as testing increases

The U.S. death toll topped 100 on Tuesday eve-

ning, and there are more than 6,300 confirmed cases,

according to the Johns Hopkins University data

dashboard. More cases are expected in the coming

days as the government ramps up testing.

Worldwide, more than 7,900 people have died

from the virus.

— Jose Ortiz

Sewer officials: Don’t flush these materials

Sewer officials are urging homebound, toilet pa-

per-strapped residents to think twice before flushing

other materials down their commodes.

That goes for paper towels, tissues, napkins and

the bane of many sewer systems, supposedly flush-

able wipes.

“They are not flushable, and they are not biode-

gradable,” said Stephen Renner, director of the De-

partment of Sanitary Engineering in Franklin Coun-

ty, Ohio. “They wreak havoc in our system. ... Please

don’t flush those down the toilet.”

— Marc Kovac and Ryan Miller

2,700 Red Cross blood drives canceled

The American Red Cross said almost 2,700 blood

drives have been canceled, resulting in around

86,000 fewer blood donations. There is not any evi-

dence that the coronavirus can spread through blood

transfusion, the organization said. The Red Cross

said it has implemented new safety measures for do-

nor and staff members including temperature

checks, hand sanitizer, enhanced disinfecting proc-

esses and bed spacing to follow social distancing

practices.

“One of the most important things people can do

right now during this public health emergency is to

give blood,” Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the

American Red Cross, said in a statement. “If you are

healthy and feeling well, please make an appoint-

ment to donate as soon as possible.”

• Morgan Hines

VA medical workers quarantined

A dozen workers at the Department of Veterans

Affairs have tested positive for coronavirus, includ-

ing four at medical center campuses in Seattle and

Tacoma, Washington. The others include two in Ne-

vada, one in New York, one in New Mexico and three

in Palo Alto, California, where the first coronavirus

patient treated in the VA medical system was admit-

ted two weeks ago.

What’s unclear: Whether the infected employees

are health care workers or staffers in other depart-

ments. VA spokeswoman Christina Mandreucci de-

clined to say what their jobs are, citing privacy con-

cerns. Those people are now quarantined at home,

she said, “mitigating further risk of transmission to

other patients and staff.” The number of VA patients

testing positive for COVID-19 spiked from five cases

last week to nearly 40 Tuesday. The VA reported its

first death in Portland, Oregon, over the weekend.

• Donovan Slack

In LA, concern for homeless, jail inmates

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said

officers are favoring citations over arrests, and the

jail population has been trimmed by more than 600

because inmates are considered “vulnerable” to the

virus. None of the more than 16,000 inmates has test-

ed positive for the coronavirus, he said, but 35 have

exhibited symptoms and been quarantined.

Villanueva also said outreach to the county’s esti-

mated 59,000 homeless people has been stepped up:

“Our biggest threat actually is the homeless popula-

tion,” he said. “You have the river beds, all the home-

less encampments under the bridges, along skid row.

Those are the biggest threat because of the sanitary

conditions and people who are resistant to seeking

aid when it is obvious that they should.”

— USA TODAY Los Angeles Bureau

Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson out of hospital

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have left an Aus-

tralian hospital, five days after they were admitted

and tested positive for coronavirus, their son Chet

Hanks said. “Quick update on my folks: They’re out

of the hospital. They’re still self-quarantined obvi-

ously, but they’re feeling a lot better, so that’s a relief,”

Chet Hanks said in a video posted to his official In-

stagram account. USA TODAY has reached out to

Hanks’ and Wilson’s representatives for more infor-

mation.

• Hannah Yasharoff

CORONAVIRUS NEWS BRIEFING

Americans

don’t trust

Trump on virus