The COVID-19 pandemic has severely limited the kind of contact incarcerated people have with the outside world. Courts have gone remote, in-person visits
Publicity Veterans Lori Burns, Emmy Chang Join The Lede Company (EXCLUSIVE)
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Two veteran entertainment publicity and strategy veterans, Lori Burns and Emmy Chang, have joined public relations and consulting firm The Lede Company.
Burns joins from her post as senior vice president of publicity at STX Films. Chang joins from Warner Bros. Pictures, where she served as director of global publicity and awards.
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“Lori and Emmy have the experience and the drive to deliver outstanding results for our clients. They are admired by their peers and have established excellent relationships across the industry. We are thrilled to have them at our side as we grow the company,” said Liz Biber, Lede partner and head of content.
Half of inmates at Manchester’s Valley Street Jail test positive
The state s largest county jail, in Manchester, has a little over 200 inmates. Less than 15 have been tested for COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
Published: 1/12/2021 6:54:41 PM
Rey DeJesus has been at Valley Street Jail since February, awaiting a trial for felony charges. He and his wife, Krystal DeJesus, talk on the phone every day, and a few weeks ago, he called to say people in the jail were getting sick.
Krystal DeJesus, a nursing assistant, gave her husband some advice:
“I said, ‘You know, the COVID is bad; it’s airborne,’ ” she recalled. ” ‘We’re wearing masks out here. You guys have no masks?’ He said, ‘No, they haven’t provided us with no masks at all.’”
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DeJesus said her husband finally got a mask in late December, nine months into the pandemic. It was also around the same time that he and most inmates in his unit tested positive for COVID-19.
Now, they’re all quarantined in their cells, with one to two hours a day out to call lawyers or family. DeJesus says her husband is sick, and that despite having asthma, he hasn’t been given his inhaler. DeJesus says it got so bad, he ended up in the hospital a few days ago.
“Every day I’m wondering if he’s going to call me and it’s going to be worse,” she said. “I’m worried I’m going to bury my husband due to something that could have been prevented.”
Credit Emily Corwin / NHPR
Attorneys say the state s largest jail is keeping them in the dark on how it is managing COVID-19 risk and potential cases among its inmates and staff.
Attorney Robin Melone, president of the New Hampshire Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, says inmates at Valley Street Jail in Manchester are reporting a “flu outbreak” that has put some in quarantine. Inmates are describing symptoms that include chills, cough and fever.
Melone says they know of no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the jail, but administrators there are offering few details to the public on COVID-19 testing and safety protocol.