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In ballooning outbreaks at about a third of the state’s 52 correctional facilities, nine incarcerated people have died in a three-week span and more than 1,000 incarcerated people have been infected in that time, according to a WNYC/Gothamist analysis of data from the State’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
The rate of new infections in prisons is now twice that of the general public, the analysis shows. With COVID-19 cases spiking and the looming threat of a new, more infectious COVID-19 variant, advocates and public health experts warn prioritizing incarcerated people and corrections officers for vaccination and releasing vulnerable inmates is now more urgent than ever.