How does releasing prisoners mitigate the spread of diseases?

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Iran has done it in response to the current crisis and several US states have considered a similar measure. I imagine prisons are so tightly locked down that they would be last place an airborne disease would enter and prisoners would be safer to stay put unless they were due to be released anyway.

Also, are prisoners in these scenarios being let out on the streets with tags or being put under house arrest in quarantine? Because surely the first one would be much worse if their health was the concern.

In: Biology

4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Prisons have new prisoners coming in so it is relatively easy for an infection to enter either through prisoners or the staff, the prisoners are confined with very little personal space especially at meal times so diseases spread rapidly.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Prisons are not really locked down, especially for an invisible invader.

Some prisoners, sure, but all support staff comes and goes. Deliveries still need to be made. Food is still prepared. They have their own emergency wards with nurses and doctors that come and go.

While there is less chance of any random person in a prison getting any virus, once one person gets it, it has a much higher rate of spread because everyone is so close together.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Why not make staff wear hazmat suits or PPE and ban visits from family to prevent the virus from entering these facilities? We all have to sit at home so why can’t they suffice with Skype family visits?

Anonymous 0 Comments

Prisons aren’t tightly locked down, medically. They’re tightly locked down in terms of prisoners being able to escape, but the guards and the staff have “regular jobs” that involve going home after work, going to buy food, etc etc.

Lots of contact with the rest of the community, and if the community is infected, the guards and staff could get infected, and transmit it to the prisoner population.

So, in a quarantine situation like this, two things come into play:

1. Prisoners have rights as human beings, don’t want to keep them locked down in a crowded prison if there’s a bug going around.

2. Guards and staff may not be “essential” personnel, they may be required to stay home under the quarantine rules, and will likely want to be with their families. So the prison has to “close”.