An Examination of COVID-19 Outbreaks in Prisons and Jails in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean

ABSTRACT

This article documents the extent of COVID-19 outbreaks in the North American, Central American, and Caribbean regions, and then compares the country-specific COVID-19 mitigation strategies implemented in the largest prison systems in these regions. We offer a preliminary assessment of the short-term impact of the COVID-19 prison mitigation strategies used in these regions, within both correctional and community settings. At this time, it appears that the governments with greater success controlling COVID-19 outbreaks in these regions are the governments adopting early prison and jail population reduction strategies.

KEYWORDS:

• international
• prisons
• corrections
• COVID-19
• Pandemic
• Alternatives to incarceration
• Early release mechanisms
• Prison reform

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. We have combined these three geographic regions for the purpose of this review, but we recognize that the countries profiled here are from three distinct regions that need to be examined separately. See the country-specific profiles included in the special issue for more detail about the importance of regional culture and context.

2. For more detail, see the country-specific reviews included in this volume covering each of the five countries we profile here.

3. Jail population sizes fluctuate frequently. See Sawyer and Wagner (2020) and Prison Policy Initiative (2020a) for more details.

4. This total reflects the cumulative number of inmates that have tested positive for COVID-19 within U.S. prisons as of August 20, 2020. The total reflected in Table 1, has since been updated, thus reflecting a much larger cumulative total.

5. The inmate totals for deaths and those who have recovered is based on data provided on August 20, 2020 (The Marshall Project, 2020).

6. Data provided by the CDC on statewide COVID-19 case rates in Florida, California, and Texas were updated on August 21, 2020. Data provided by the Marshall Project on prison systems’ COVID-19 case prevalence for corresponding states were updated on August 20, 2020.

7. The citizens of Cuba can be jailed for not wearing masks, but we do not have data on how often this occurs (Gamez Torres, 2020). Moreover, since the end of July, positive cases may have emerged; however, official statistics have not been released, to our knowledge.

8. Canada consists of 3.855 million square miles (Statistics Canada, 2020, January 17) with approximately 37.97 million inhabitants (Statistics Canada, 2020, June 18) while the U.S. consists of around 3.797 million square miles with approximately 328.2 million residents (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020a, 2020b).

9. The total reflected in Table 1 has since been updated, thus reflecting a larger cumulative total.