GET BUSY! COMBATTING THE HEALTH RISKS OF A TEXAS SOLITARY CELL

By Kwaneta Harris

From PHN Issue 56, Spring 2024

At 51, living in a solitary confinement cell in Texas increases my likelihood of an early death. It’s a daily fight to remain physically and emotionally healthy. I’ve been incarcerated 17 years, with seven and a half in the hole. Texas is known for its brutal prison conditions: No air conditioning. No ability for anyone to purchase individualized TVs. A two-page commissary list for everyone. Although, on paper, we are allowed out of our cell daily for a shower and outdoor/indoor recreation, that’s seldom enforced. I developed a regimented daily routine. As a Black woman, I know I’m at risk for diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and stroke. As a former nurse, I know how to combat the harm this box was designed to do.

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COVID-19 Update: RISING CASES AND UPDATED VACCINES

By Lily HA
From PHN Issue 55, Winter 2024

As of October 2023, there has been another surge in COVID-19 cases. Since data reporting to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is more limited than it was earlier in the pandemic, it’s harder to know the size of the surge. Still, cases, hospitalizations, and deaths have all increased since summer. When possible, wearing a mask, keeping physical distance between yourself and others, and getting tested if you feel sick or are around someone else who tests positive continue to be good ways to protect yourself and others.

New variants of the coronavirus continue to arise, as experts have expected. There are currently multiple sub-variants of the Omicron variant going around. So far, these new variants and sub-variants seem to have similar symptoms to and cause similarly severe disease as previous variants, although they are more transmissible (easier to get and pass on to other people).

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The End of the Covid Public Health Emergency: NEW APPROACHES TO AN ONGOING PANDEMIC

By Kirby Sokolow
From PHN Issue 54, Fall 2023

On May 5, 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the COVID-19 pandemic “no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).” Days later, the U.S.’s federal public health emergency (PHE) also ended.

These announcements left the world wondering: What does it mean to end a public health emergency? Do the two declarations mean the same thing? Is COVID finally “over”?

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Recognizing LONG COVID

By Kirby Sokolow
From PHN Issue 53, Summer 2023

Three years have passed since the World Health Organization first declared COVID-19 a pandemic. However, people worldwide continue to suffer from this novel coronavirus’ devastating effects. Among them are an estimated 65 million people with symptoms of Long COVID.

Long COVID—also called post-COVID syndrome or post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection—is when someone keeps having COVID-19 symptoms or gets new symptoms that last weeks, months, or years after they get COVID. Anyone infected with COVID-19 can develop Long COVID, even vaccinated folks and people whose initial symptoms were mild. However, vaccination does lower your risk of both getting COVID and developing long COVID.

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What to Know About COVID-19 Tests

By M. Ali
From PHN Issue 52, Spring 2023

COVID-19 is an illness caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. It spreads when a person with the virus (symptomatic or asymptomatic) releases droplets and particles from their mouth or nose. This can occur when they breathe, cough, or sneeze in close contact with another person. It can also occur in poorly ventilated or crowded indoor settings, such as correctional and detention facilities. The best way to prevent COVID19 infection and reinfection is to practice basic hygiene like washing your hands with soap and water, wear a well-fitting mask, stay up to date with vaccines, and avoid contact with individuals who may have the virus. While the use of masks to prevent the spread of this virus has been politicized and debated, randomized controlled trials have found that community-level mask wearing does reduce COVID-19 infections and may be an especially effective resource in crowded facilities.

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An Open Letter to the INCARCERATED OF PENNSYLVANIA

By Anonymous
From PHN Issue 51, Winter 2023

It has been more than a year since the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections vaccinated its inmate population. Mask mandates have been lifted. The unvaccinated have been allowed off quarantine and spread throughout general population. And yet here we are, another year gone, and the pandemic restrictions limiting activity and quality of life within the prisons remain. The PA DOC has successfully used a deadly pandemic as a smoke screen to institute many of the wide-ranging and destructive restrictions it’s wanted all along.

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COVID-19 Updates: JULY 2022

By Lily H-A
From PHN Issue 50, Summer/Fall 2022

Omicron and BA.5

The current version of the coronavirus that is infecting the most people in the U.S. is called BA.5. This is a “sub-variant” of the omicron variant. It is the most contagious version of the virus yet, and it’s sometimes able to get past antibodies from prior infections and vaccination. However, these antibodies do still provide some protection from BA.5, especially against severe illness and death. BA.5 does not seem to cause more severe disease than other variants. Data are also beginning to suggest that long COVID may be somewhat less common for people after being infected with omicron sub-variants than with earlier variants.

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An Open Letter to the Incarcerated of Pennsylvania

By Anonymous
June 16, 2022

It has been more than a year since the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections vaccinated its inmate population. Mask mandates have been lifted. The unvaccinated have been allowed off quarantine and spread throughout general population. And yet here we are, another year gone, and the pandemic restrictions limiting activity and quality of life within the prisons remain. The PADOC has successfully used a deadly pandemic as a smoke screen to institute many of the wide-ranging and destructive restrictions it’s wanted all along.

Many of us served as “essential” workers during the pandemic, tirelessly disinfecting the blocks, preparing food and distributing trays. We toiled for long hours to keep the prisons running, with the understanding that Covid was an unprecedented situation that required all of us to work together. Besides those few lucky enough to work, the majority of us were stuck confined in our cells for days and weeks and months on end. It was tough on all of us, but we made it through, and to show its appreciation for our cooperation the PADOC has chosen to keep its pandemic restrictions in place indefinitely.

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MDOC Covid-19 ‘Quarantine’ Reaps Financial Windfall for Corizon Health’s Investors

By Rand. W Gould, October 2021

Reprinted with permission from San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper

In early March 2020, the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) declared a so-called “medical quarantine” for influenza, i.e., the flu, that quickly morphed into the COVID-19 “quarantine” still in effect to this day. Just as quickly, MDOC health care provider Corizon Health, Inc., took full advantage of this quarantine to deny prisoners constitutionally mandated health care across the board, including dental, optical, hepatitis B and other vaccines, with all previously scheduled 2020 medical consults and surgeries canceled.

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Prison Decarceration in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Protesters in Philadelphia demand decarceration during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Joe Piette, shared under Creative Commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

by Yosef Robele

Editor’s note: With this thoroughly researched academic article, Prison Health News has the rare privilege of offering scientific data—in addition to our continuing testimonies from people in prison—about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted incarcerated people. We agree with the author, Yosef Robele, that decarceration is the winning strategy we all must fight for.

Yosef is a 2nd year masters student in the Environmental Health Science & Policy Track at George Washington University School of Public Health. He was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. He went to undergrad at the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in Environmental Science and minored in Physics. He hopes to have a career tackling environmental justice issues from a scientifically informed background.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has done much to reveal structural inequalities in American society. Throughout the pandemic, the Prison Industrial Complex has been shown to be wholly inadequate in protecting incarcerated persons, prison staff and the surrounding communities. As both the incarcerated persons and the staffs have higher rates of chronic disease than the general population (Wildeman & Wang, 2017), this places them at higher risk of an adverse outcome from contracting COVID-19. While the prison population has actually decreased by about 10% for various reasons during the pandemic, (Franco-Paredes et al., 2021) prison reform advocates have called for more radical slashes. This paper will advocate not only for these radical slashes but also for other forms of support for formerly incarcerated people. Over summer 2020 alone, over 500,000 cases of COVID-19 can be attributed to the carceral state (Hooks & Sawyer, 2020). In order to prevent further cases and deaths, it’s imperative that incarcerated people are not only released but released with enough health care and housing to support themselves during the pandemic.

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