Coronavirus infection in state prisons more than two times statewide rate

Advocates renew call for inmate releases

By Sarah Betancourt
April 10, 2020
Commonwealth Magazine

THE CORONAVIRUS INFECTION rate among inmates in the state prison is more than two times than the statewide rate, according to new figures from the Department of Correction.

Prisoners’ Legal Services sent out an analysis on Friday analyzing the rate of infection among the 64 prisoners out of 7,841 Department of Correction inmates who have contracted the virus, finding a rate of 0.82 percent. That is more than two-and-half times the statewide rate of 0.3 percent.