coronavirus - prisons

When Ohio gets its first shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine, medical professionals, residents and staff at long-term care facilities and EMS workers will be first in line. But it’s unclear where those in the more controversial congregate setting of prisons might end up on the vaccine priority list.

There have been 115 confirmed or probable COVID-19 inmate deaths and 7 staff deaths in Ohio’s prison system. The prison population has been reduced because of COVID, but advocates say the facilities are still overcrowded and dangerous. 

A member of Gov. Mike DeWine’s cabinet has tested positive for COVID-19. And she heads an agency that’s been ravaged by the coronavirus.

Ohio National Guard members have been performing a variety of duties during the COVID19 pandemic. But the roles of members are changing a bit as time progresses.

23 percent of all confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ohio are prison workers or inmates, and 31 inmates and workers have died. Ohio is the first state to do mass testing at three prisons. But the union representing prison workers says those facilities are still dangerous.

There were 11,292 cases of COVID-19 cases as of Sunday – and nearly a quarter of those are either inmates or staff at Ohio prisons.

489 inmates and 184 staff in Ohio’s prisons have tested positive for COVID-19. More than 32,000 inmates in 20 of Ohio’s 28 prisons are under full quarantine. And now the head of the union representing those workers is too.

The Ohio National Guard’s Military Reserve soldiers have been helping out at food banks, but they are also collecting and distributing personal protective equipment to people who need it. 

There are reports of deaths in a federal prison in Ohio that are suspected to be COVID-19 related. And fourteen inmates and nearly 30 staffers have tested positive for COVID-19 in three Ohio state prisons. The state has now identified more prisoners who could be released from those state facilities.