How to save lives in jail right now: Learn from mistakes made in earlier COVID waves • New York Daily News

When COVID-19 first hit New York City, incarcerated people, oversight agencies, advocates, doctors and epidemiologists sounded the alarm about the humanitarian crisis the pandemic would unleash in our jails and prisons. The danger was clear: Without swift and dramatic action, sickness and death would sweep NYC’s correctional facilities and inevitably spread to the broader community. The ensuing decarceration effort, imperfect as it was, yielded less crowded jails, which undoubtedly slowed the spread of COVID and saved lives. Still, incarcerated people and jail staff suffered more than 2,000 confirmed infections and at least 16 deaths.