Our Reporting on Coronavirus
Coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, criminal justice and immigration.
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Over 2,100 prisoners, at least, have died of COVID-19 behind bars since last March. Coronavirus cases rose another 4 percent last week in state and federal prisons around the country. The tally is over 343,000 cases. More than 90,000 prison employees also have tested positive for COVID-19 and at least 146 have died. Only two states, Wyoming and Vermont, have yet to report a COVID-19-related death. In collaboration with the Associated Press, here is our updated tracker. The Marshall Project More: Corrections officials in Michigan don’t know whether prisoners tested positive for COVID-19 a second time because they don’t have genetic material available for genomic sequencing. Detroit Free Press Read our story.
People who live and work in the justice system face unique challenges.
Public health officials in at least six states hope to administer COVID-19 vaccines during the first phase of the federal government’s rollout. Officials in other states have prisoners slated for the second round of vaccines. All of these decisions are infused with political calculations. Read more.
More on living and working conditions
We’re watching how the criminal justice system responds to the crisis.
Officials let down their guard as the virus seemed to ebb, and began allowing transfers of people between prisons again. That seems to have helped cause a surge of new COVID-19 positives behind bars. Read more.
More on accountability
