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Our Reporting on Coronavirus

Coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, criminal justice and immigration.

Stay up to date with our Opening Statement newsletter.

People who live and work in the justice system face unique challenges.

Mia Armstrong read the reports that say her beloved uncle Brian died of “sudden cardiac arrest” hours after he was released from jail. She knows he tested positive for COVID-19 when he died. But she also knows there was nothing sudden about her uncle’s health problems, or the way he couldn’t get the care he needed as he cycled through hospital and jail cells. Read more.

More on living and working conditions

We’re watching how the criminal justice system responds to the crisis.

As the highly-contagious Omicron variant bears down on the nation’s prisons and jails, corrections officials, experts, and prisoner advocates worry that uncertain access to booster shots and expected staffing shortages will make life even more dire than it already is for those behind bars. Read more.

More on accountability

We’re tracking and explaining the data behind the disaster.

A Half-Million People Got COVID-19 in Prison. Are Officials Ready for the Next Pandemic?

June 30

1 in 5 Prisoners in the U.S. Has Had COVID-19

December 18

COVID-19’s Toll on People of Color Is Worse Than We Knew

August 21

All coronavirus coverage

Life Inside January 14, 2022
People in the Scandal-Plagued Federal Prison System Reveal What They Need in a New Director
“This is kind of like AA: To move forward, first you have to admit there’s a problem.”
By
An incarcerated person received a COVID-19 vaccination at the Bolivar County Regional Correctional Facility in Cleveland, Miss., in April.
News December 22, 2021
Omicron Has Arrived. Many Prisons and Jails Are Not Ready.
Experts fear “another potential tinderbox scenario” akin to the early days of the pandemic.
By and
An annual festival for a growing community of Guatemalan immigrants in New Bedford, Mass. took place in September. Members of the musical group, Soñando por Mañana, which means Dreaming for Tomorrow in Spanish, sang both the U.S. and Guatemalan national anthems.
Feature December 15, 2021
Essential but Excluded
Immigrants put seafood on America’s tables. But many have been shut out of pandemic aid — and so have their U.S. citizen children.
By and
Coronavirus December 8, 2021
How Prisons in Each State Are Restricting Visits Due to Coronavirus
As COVID-19 spread earlier this year, prison facilities across the country suspended visits from family and lawyers. Several months into the pandemic, some states are easing those restrictions. We’re rounding up the changes as they occur.
By
Lance Lowry, who recently retired after 20 years as a corrections officer, outside the Huntsville Unit in Texas.
News November 1, 2021
As Corrections Officers Quit in Droves, Prisons Get Even More Dangerous
Fewer guards lead to more lockdowns, rising tensions and scant access to healthcare.
By , , , Mike Sisak and
Life Inside August 26, 2021
My Uncle Died the Day He Was Released From Jail. I’m Still Trying to Understand Why.
“Sudden cardiac death,” is the cause listed on my uncle Bryan’s death certificate. But it didn’t feel sudden at all — not when you factor in his underlying mental and physical health problems, years of poor prison medical care and the fact that he caught COVID-19 in his Arizona jail.
By
Inside Out August 12, 2021
‘They Should Have Been Watching’: Suicides Rise in Texas Prisons During Pandemic
Prison suicides have been rising for years. Experts fear the pandemic has made it worse.
By
Inside Out July 1, 2021
Prisons Have a Health Care Issue — And It Starts at the Top, Critics Say
When coronavirus hit federal prisons, the top officials had no health care experience.
By
A man from a nearby prison was shackled to the bed in a Rhode Island hospital while being treated with a ventilator for COVID-19 in the intensive care unit in December.
Coronavirus June 30, 2021
A Half-Million People Got COVID-19 in Prison. Are Officials Ready for the Next Pandemic?
People who live and work in prisons worry they remain vulnerable, even as life behind bars returns to business as usual.
By , and Claudia Lauer
Feature June 29, 2021
Lost Opportunity, Lost Lives
During the pandemic, prison officials could have prevented sickness and death by releasing those who were most vulnerable to coronavirus and least likely to reoffend — older incarcerated people.
By Lisa Armstrong
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