At least 167 NYC inmates, 114 jail staffers now have COVID-19
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By David Brand
At least 167 people currently detained in New York City jails now have COVID-19, an increase of more than 60 percent since Friday, according to a daily report from the Department of Correction. Another 114 jail staff members have also tested positive for the illness, according to DOC.
There were 103 inmates who tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, according to a daily analysis by the Legal Aid Society. The daily totals do not include inmates taken to Bellevue or Elmhurst Hospital for treatment.
“COVID-19 is spreading rapidly at Rikers Island and other local jails, endangering our clients, correction staff and all of New York City,” said Tina Luongo, the top attorney in Legal Aid’s Criminal Defense Practice. “Based on this analysis, New York City jails have become the epicenter of COVID-19.”
Roughly 3.6 percent of the city jail population has tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Legal Aid analysis. The rate of COVID-19 on RIkers Island and other city jails far outpaces the rate of infection in New York City, the jurisdiction hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak.
Advocates and several local lawmakers have called on the city, state and five New York City prosecutors to release thousands of detainees to stem the spread of the coronavirus in the tight jail quarters. Various jail staff members have also tested positive for the illness, and at least one has died from COVID-19.
The Board of Correction, the independent commission that oversees city jails, identified at least 2,185 detainees for release in a March 21 letter to city and state leaders, including 551 inmates serving city sentences, 906 detainees over age 60 and 666 people held on technical parole violations.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that he would release roughly 600 people detained in New York City on technical parole violations. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday that the city would release 375 people serving city sentences of less than one-year, though it remains unclear exactly how many people have been released.
On Friday, the city jail population dropped below 5,000 for the first time in more than 70 years. There were 4,640 people detained in city jails Sunday night, according to the DOC report analyzed by Legal Aid.
For weeks, advocates have sounded the alarm about the potential impact of COVID-19 in jails.
“They’re already quarantined and that will spread like wildfire,” Akeem Browder told the Eagle on March 3.
Browder, an advocate for the rights of the incarcerated, was detained on Rikers Island. He founded the Kalief Browder Foundation in honor of his brother, who committed suicide following a three-year stint on Rikers.
“I fear that if there were to be an outbreak, that our loved ones are not prepared, or the jails are not prepared to handle it,” he added
It is imperative that Albany, City Hall, our local District Attorneys and the NYPD take swift and bold action to mitigate the spread of this deadly virus. Stop sending people to Rikers and let these New Yorkers out immediately. Anything else is too little, too late.”
