US puts federal prisons on lockdown over virus fears

[WASHINGTON] The US confined all its federal inmates, nearly 170,000 people, to their cells and wards Wednesday for at least two weeks to prevent an outbreak of coronavirus, an especially dire concern in the country with the world's largest prison population.

So far 29 inmates and 30 guards throughout the 122 federal penitentiaries have been infected with Covid-19, according to the latest count from the Bureau of Prisons.

A 49-year-old man serving a drug trafficking sentence in a Louisiana prison died Saturday, becoming the first US inmate killed by the disease.

Previously, only inmates who had been in contact with infected people were quarantined. Most visits and transfers had also been suspended.

That changed Wednesday. "For a 14-day period, inmates in every institution will be secured in their assigned cells/quarters to decrease the spread of the virus," the bureau said in a statement.

Such lockdowns are usually only implemented to quell prison unrest. This time, the move "is based on health concerns, not disruptive inmate behavior", the statement said.

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It said that, "to the extent practicable", inmates would still have access to programs such as education and mental health treatment; while "limited group gathering" would still be allowed to facilitate access to showers and commissary, among other services.

Rights activists strongly criticised the measures. "Solitary confinement is not a solution. Solitary confinement is torture," said Scott Hechinger, a New York public defender, on Twitter.

Similar measures taken due to the virus have led to deadly riots in prisons in Italy and Jordan, and escapes in Venezuela and Brazil.

The US has more than 2.2 million people are behind bars, more than any other country in the world - the vast majority in state penitentiaries or local jails.

Since the beginning of the epidemic, which has now infected more than 200,000 people and killed nearly 4,500 in the US, there have been calls to reduce the prison population.

Attorney General Bill Barr said Thursday that he supports house arrest for the most vulnerable people in federal prisons, especially the elderly and those at the end of their sentences.

Local authorities in California and New Jersey have released hundreds of inmates on bail.

AFP