New research shows impacts COVID-19 outbreaks in prisons and jails have on the surrounding community

Pew Charitable Trusts’ Stateline reports on new research regarding the impact that COVID-19 cases in prisons and jails have on community spread. A new modeling study—conducted by the American Civil Liberties Union with researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Washington State University, and the University of Tennessee—estimated that community COVID-19 spread from infections beginning in prisons and jails could result in between 99,000– 188,000 additional coronavirus deaths. The article notes that a recent peer-reviewed study in Health Affairs also supports this finding. That study found that people cycling through Cook County Jail in Illinois were associated with 15.9 percent of Chicago’s COVID-19 cases as of late April. #covid-19