With the confirmation of COVID-19 in our corrections system, it is time for the state to begin offering universal testing to all who are incarcerated or work within this system.
In addition to universal testing, ACLU-WV and our partners issued a letter to state officials today calling for increased transparency as well. For example, states like Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia publicly report not only the number of positive cases in correctional facilities, but also the total number of tests performed as well. West Virginia does not.
“Ongoing forthrightness about COVID-19 testing and results within the prison system will maintain the public trust in our health and law enforcement officials. Transparency will similarly put incarcerated individuals and their families at greater ease,” the letter states.
Prison walls cannot contain the spread of this highly contagious virus, and social distancing is practically impossible in West Virginia’s overcrowded, poorly ventilated, and unsanitary facilities.
ACLU-WV persists in its call for the state to release as many incarcerated people as possible before it’s too late. Numerous states have already experienced explosions of infection among incarcerated people.