Virginia officials are keeping a close watch on developments in New York, where the coronavirus outbreak has claimed hundreds of lives and sickened thousands more.
The data emerging from the Empire State is as instructive as it is deeply frightening, and it underscores the need for the commonwealth to empty out its prisons, as much as safely possible, to prevent a mass-casualty scenario unfolding in those facilities.
Dealing with houses of corrections — city and county jails, regional facilities as well as those operated by the state — may not be atop the list if public priorities, but officials need to address them before they are infiltrated by a virus that will be nearly impossible to stop.
Early in the evolution of this pandemic, public health experts worried that any concentration of individuals would be particularly vulnerable to coronavirus. The pathogen is highly infectious, and officials feared that one case in, for instance, a nursing home would spread like wildfire — with deadly results.
That’s proved to be the cases in recent weeks, as communities have seen elder-care facilities ravaged by COVID-19. Some of the highest death tolls have been recorded in these facilities, including here in Virginia, despite the fact that many of these homes employ medical professionals who know how to manage the risk and protect patients.
Officials also worried about the inmate populations at jails, recognizing that they, too, were at an increased risk of infection because of their living conditions. Any outbreak in a jail or prison also puts corrections staff and administrators at risk, as well as the health workers who provide care for inmates.
About 1,000 inmates nationwide die in local jails each year, many of whom are awaiting trial. Federal law requires that care be “reasonably adequate” and state law instructs authorities to contract for services as cheaply as possible.
As a result, those who require care for chronic ailments or mental illness rarely receive adequate treatment. Recall that contracted medical providers have agreed to pay hefty sums to the families of inmates who died at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail in recent years.
State law also specifies Virginia’s obligation to inmates with infectious diseases. Upon confirmation of infection dangerous to the public health, an inmate “shall be removed to some other place … shall be safely kept and receive proper care and attention including medical treatment.”
The section of state code goes on to say that terms of imprisonment can even be extended “until all danger of his spreading contagion has passed” and that “expenses incurred under and by reason of this section shall be paid as provided by law.”
So Virginia’s state government, as well as the local officials who operate city, county and regional jails, have a legal obligation toward the men, women and children now behind bars. Taxpayers will be on the hook for providing care to inmates infected with COVID-19 — be they a handful or in the hundreds — so it makes sense to be proactive about it.
But the commonwealth also has a moral obligation to these individuals the public must consider.
Already there are howls of protest over the early release of inmates or commuting sentences, despite the fact it is being done to the public’s benefit. Never mind that caring for prisoners would consume the same medical supplies and equipment in short supply across the nation, these critics say, better that those behind bars stay there.
For many inmates — far too many — that amounts to a death sentence. And while capital punishment is still on the books in Virginia, the vast majority of those who will become sick and who will die in corrections institutions here did nothing to merit such a grim outcome.
It may seem counterintuitive to deal with the prisons first, to make care for offenders a priority, but it’s an investment in the care and safety of the whole population. Not only is it warranted, it’s essential.
