Coronavirus Live Updates: U.S. Surpasses Italy in Total Number of Confirmed Deaths – The New York Times

In the federal system, which holds roughly 174,000 people across the country, at least 481 inmates and prison workers have tested positive for the virus, according to New York Times tracking data, and at least nine federal inmates have died, mainly in Louisiana. The Times has spoken with dozens of workers and inmates who say the federal Bureau of Prisons was ill-prepared for the outbreak.

On Friday, the director of the federal prison system defended his agencys response in an interview on CNN, saying the pandemic was an overwhelming challenge that no one expected. I dont think anybody was ready for this Covid, so were dealing with it just as well as anybody else, and Id be proud to say were doing pretty good, said Michael Carvajal, who took over as the head of the Bureau of Prisons less than two months ago.

Six of the federal prisoners who died were being held in Oakdale, La., where nearly 1,000 people are incarcerated, and where there have been reports of a revolt among inmates.

Attorney General William P. Barr last week ordered the Bureau of Prisons to release more people from federal custody and to focus on three prisons that have been hardest hit by the coronavirus, including the Federal Correctional Institution Oakdale.

State prisons and jails, which hold the vast majority of the people incarcerated in America, have also faced unrest in recent days. More than 100 men at a Washington State prison demonstrated in response to positive tests at the facility. Police officers fired pepper spray and sting balls, which eject rubber pellets, to quell the demonstration. In Kansas, inmates at the Lansing Correctional Facility, where at least 28 people have tested positive, set small fires and broke windows in a demonstration that lasted for nearly 12 hours. Two inmates suffered injuries.

And in Pennsylvania, families of inmates at the Franklin County jail told The PA Post, a local news website, that the inmates were staging a hunger strike.

Immigrants held at the Otay Mesa detention center in San Diego, Calif., said in phone calls recorded by their lawyers that guards had pepper-sprayed them on Friday after they demanded masks and began to make their own out of clothing and plastic bags. They also said they were asked to sign liability waivers absolving CoreCivic, the private prison company that operates the facility, from responsibility for any coronavirus-related illnesses.

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Coronavirus Live Updates: U.S. Surpasses Italy in Total Number of Confirmed Deaths - The New York Times