FILE - In this June 11, 2001 file photo, an aerial view of the execution facility at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., is shown. After the latest 17-year hiatus, the Trump administration wants to restart federal executions this month at the Terre Haute, prison. Four men are slated to die. All are accused of murdering children in cases out of Arkansas, Kansas Iowa and Missouri. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy File) An aerial view of the execution facility at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., is shown. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
A study in US prisons has found the number of Covid-19-positive cases is 5.5 times higher per capita than the infection rate for the general US population.
The researchers also found that after adjusting for age and sex differences between the two groups, the coronavirus death rate is three times higher for prisoners compared to the general US population.
The study was led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. It is published online as a research letter in JAMA.
Source: UCLA Law COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project via JHU
It found infection rates exceeding 65% in several facilities that were part of the study. It analysed cases and deaths from March 31 to June 6, 2020, found that the prisoner case rate was 3,251 per 100,000 residents, as compared to 587 cases per 100,000 in the general population. The death rate of prisoners was 39 deaths per 100,000 prison residents, as compared to 29 deaths per 100,000 people in the general US population. And Covid-19 cases increased by 8.3% per day in prisons, as compared to 3.4% in the general population.
You’ve Read Your Free Stories For Now
Sign up and keep reading more stories that matter to you.
