Pandemic Treaty Should Include Reporting in Prisons

ABSTRACT

Knight et al argue that pandemic treaty should include reporting in prisons. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic it was not hard to anticipate that transmission would be exacerbated in places where individuals were in close contact, ventilation systems were inadequate, and the availability of health care and prevention measures were limited. These conditions are all found in locations such as cruise ships, college dormitories, and prisons. Yet, while great effort was taken to prevent transmission in the first two of these settings, one was often overlooked prisons. Despite overcrowding, communal meals, and frequent turn-over in detainees and staff, responses to COVID-19 in detention facilities--including jails, prisons, and immigration detention centers--were often limited, and actions taken to reduce risk and cases and deaths in detention were often unreported.