They’re not forgotten souls’: New York prisons see spike in COVID cases, deaths Tiffany Cusaac-Smith, New York State Team
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Locked up in a coronavirus-stricken prison, Claude Johnson was concerned about his health if his parole was denied again.
After spending more than three decades behind bars, the 60-year-old was dealing with the death of a good friend of COVID-19 at another prison. Johnson had witnessed the near impossibility of social distancing at the Fishkill Correctional Facility in Dutchess County and the lack of protective gear given to an imprisoned individual as he nursed himself back to health after dealing with a likely case.
Locked up in a coronavirus-stricken prison, Claude Johnson was concerned about his health if his parole was denied again.
After spending more than three decades behind bars, the 60-year-old was dealing with the death of a good friend of COVID-19 at another prison. Johnson had witnessed the near impossibility of social distancing at the Fishkill Correctional Facility in Dutchess County and the lack of protective gear given to an imprisoned individual as he nursed himself back to health after dealing with a likely case.
“I was concerned for my own self,” he said. “I was to the point where I felt like when I went to the parole board in October of 2020, I was saying, ‘If I don’t get granted parole, there’s a possibility that I may die in prison due to COVID-19.