The coronavirus pandemic is having a significant impact on the nation's prison system, causing higher rates of infection and death compared to the gen

Coronavirus deaths and infection rates higher in US prisons than general population

submited by

Style Pass

2020-07-09 04:09:07

The coronavirus pandemic is having a significant impact on the nation's prison system, causing higher rates of infection and death compared to the general population."The number of US prison residents who tested positive for Covid-19 was 5.5 times higher than the general US population," according to an analysis led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.The study, published as a research letter in JAMA Wednesday, analyzed cases and deaths from March 31 to June 6 using publicly available data from corrections departments websites, news reports and other sources and found large disparities between the two populations. Researchers said the prison infection rate was "3,251 per 100,000 residents," while the rate