Chicago’s Jail Is Top U.S. Hot Spot as Virus Spreads Behind Bars
At least 1,324 confirmed coronavirus cases are tied to prisons and jails across the United States, according to data tracked by The Times, including at least 32 deaths.
By Timothy Williams and Danielle Ivory
Published April 8, 2020
It started small. On March 23, two inmates in the sprawling Cook County jail, one of the nation’s largest, were placed in isolation cells after testing positive for the coronavirus. In a little over two weeks, the virus exploded behind bars, infecting more than 350 people.
The jail in Chicago is now the nation’s largest-known source of coronavirus infections, according to data compiled by The New York Times, with more confirmed cases than the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt, a nursing home in Kirkland, Wash., or the cluster centered on New Rochelle, N.Y.
The Cook County Sheriff’s Office, which operates the jail, said Wednesday that 238 inmates and 115 staff members had tested positive for the virus. But those figures most likely downplay the actual problem, the jail acknowledged, because the vast majority of the jail’s 4,500 inmates have not been tested.
“This has been a difficult time for everyone,” said Thomas J. Dart, the county sheriff, who has decided to stay away from his wife and children because he fears spreading the virus to them.
more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/us/coronavirus-cook-county-jail-chicago.html
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