In prisons and jails across the deep south, coronavirus threatens to overwhelm chronically underfunded, understaffed and overpopulated facilities.
In the five years that Richard has been incarcerated at Easterling correctional facility in Clio, Alabama, his wife, Deana, has watched his health deteriorate.
He went into his 16-year sentence at age 59 with a number of health problems dating back to his time in the military in the 1970s: diabetes, hypertension, post-traumatic stress disorder and neuropathy that has left him using a cane.
It was manageable before prison, but lack of treatment at the facility has left him in considerable pain. “It’s horrible. As we speak right now, he does not get his medications, half the time his sugar is not checked,” said Deana. Her calls to the facility to demand better medical treatment have been repeatedly ignored.
Now, with the coronavirus pandemic sweeping across the country, Deana is terrified that Covid-19 will spread unmitigated at her husband’s prison. Nor is she alone in her fears.
In prisons and jails across the deep south, America’s incarceration center, the pandemic threatens to overwhelm chronically underfunded, understaffed and significantly overpopulated facilities. In Alabama, the department of corrections (DOC) has only tested 46 inmates, with no cases confirmed. In Mississippi, it was announced on Monday that an inmate who tested positive for Covid-19 died at the state’s notorious Parchman prison. The department declined to specify the number of inmates who have been tested. In Louisiana, 60 inmates have so far tested positive…
To read the entire article from The Guardian, click https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/17/us-prisons-coronavirus-deep-south
