The COVID Prison Project (CPP) grew out of the critical health crisis occurring in incarcerated settings during the COVID pandemic in early 2020.  Incarcerated populations face especially high risk for transmission of infectious diseases due to close living conditions that make social distancing impossible, as well as limited access to soap, hand sanitizer, and personal protective equipment (PPE).  COVID-19 has been particularly devastating to incarcerated populations given their high prevalence of certain chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and respiratory illness, which can exacerbate the severity of symptom presentation. This has made stark racial and ethnic health disparities all the more apparent and a call to action all the more urgent.

 

Publicly available data from 53 state and federal prison systems are aggregated daily by CPP staff and are presented on the CPP website, www. covidprisonproject.com, to keep a running record of the number of tests completed, as well as rates of transmissions and deaths among prison staff and incarcerated populations. In the immediate, the goals of the CPP are to shine a light on the COVID-19 health crisis in incarcerated settings and to provide up-to-date information to researchers and advocates to help shape humane healthcare policies

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For more information, visit www.covidprisonproject.com.