Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Blumenthal, Murphy demand answers on spike in COVID-19 cases at Danbury prison

  • Justice
  • by Ana Radelat
  • May 5, 2020
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

The Danbury prison

Washington – Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy are demanding answers from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons about its response to an outbreak of COVID-19 cases at the federal prison in Danbury, where 60 inmates and 50 staff members have contracted the disease and one inmate has died.

“We are also concerned that, while FCI Danbury appears to be using isolation and quarantining units to some extent, almost every unit has at least one inmate who has tested positive for COVID-19. Given that supply limitations have forced FCI Danbury to only test symptomatic inmates, the actual infection rate is likely many times higher,” the senators wrote Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal on Tuesday.

The BOP’s reaction to the growing coronavirus crisis in prisons has raised alarms among advocates and the family members of inmates who are concerned the agency is not doing enough to ensure the safety of the nearly 175,000 inmates serving time in the nation’s federal facilities.

Last month U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5th District, wrote that she has spoken to the prison’s warden about improving its communication with inmates’ families.

Recent figures provided by the BOP show that out of 2,700 covonavirus tests administered at the federal facilities, nearly 2,000, or 70%, have come back positive.

The Bureau of Prisons has also been slow to follow a directive from Attorney General William Barr to expedite the release of inmates to home confinement at facilities in Danbury, Oakdale, La., and Elkton, Ohio, where cases of COVID-19 had been spiking.

And last month, attorneys from a Stamford law firm, Quinnipiac University School of Law and Yale Law School filed a class action federal lawsuit to force authorities to take emergency measures to protect the men and women incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution Danbury.

FCI Danbury, a low security federal correctional institution with an adjacent low security satellite prison and a minimum security satellite camp, currently holds about has 736 male offenders and about 320 female offenders.

Blumenthal and Murphy said they first wrote to Carvajal on April 13, and have yet to receive a reply to their first letter asking about conditions at the Danbury prison.

The Bureau of Prisons did not have an immediate response to the senators’ second letter, either, and declined to comment publicly on it. “The Bureau of Prisons responds directly to Members of Congress.  Out of respect and deference to Members, we do not share our Congressional correspondence with media,” its Office of Public Affairs office wrote.

“In the weeks since we wrote, there has been an exponential growth in the number of cases of COVID-19 at FCI Danbury,” the senators wrote. “There are now over 60 inmates and over 50 staff who have tested positive, and one inmate has sadly passed away. Without additional intervention, including greater testing capabilities and supplies, we remain very concerned that FCI Danbury will continue to be a hotspot for COVID-19, putting inmates, staff, and the greater community at risk.”

The senators asked Carvajal whether Bureau of Prison policy limits testing only to staff and inmates who  are symptomatic for COVID-19 and whether its Danbury facility is coordinating with the Department of Public Health, the Danbury Department of Health and Human Services and local health care providers to ensure access to testing.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ana Radelat Ana has written about politics and policy in Washington, D.C.. for Gannett, Thompson Reuters and UPI. She was a special correspondent for the Miami Herald, and a regular contributor to The New York TImes, Advertising Age and several other publications. She has also worked in broadcast journalism, for CNN and several local NPR stations. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Journalism.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
CT teachers are expected to get vaccinated for COVID at local clinics, but other options could cause problems
by Dave Altimari

School employees could end up on two lists, which means some vaccine might go to waste, officials said.

Equity issues dominate hearing on Lamont’s marijuana bill
by Kelan Lyons and Mark Pazniokas

The administration's testimony took up the hearing's first five hours. More than 130 people are signed up to speak.

Black and Hispanic residents continue to be vaccinated against COVID at lower rates than white residents
by Kasturi Pananjady and Jenna Carlesso

Among those 65 and older, the rate of vaccination for white residents was 39%, compared to 21% for Black residents.

As mass vaccination centers take the lead in the COVID race, the push is on to reach the most vulnerable
by Dave Altimari

While mass vaccination sites have helped overall vaccination rates, they have not reached the state's most vulnerable populations.

Governor says frustrations with vaccine rollout should be with CDC guidelines
by Adria Watson

Lamont also said 30,000 doses of new J&J vaccine could arrive next week

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Gas pipeline will threaten water quality, wildlife and wetlands
by Susan Eastwood

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has granted tentative approval of the 401 water quality certification for the Pomfret to Killingly natural gas pipeline. I urge DEEP to deny the 401 certification, as the proposed pipeline would violate the Connecticut’s water quality standards, and the conditions in the draft certification fail to protect our streams, wetlands, and wildlife.

Opinion Connecticut and the other Connecticut. Which will endure?
by Ezra Kaprov

What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘Connecticut’? Possibly, you think of a 43-year-old Puerto Rican man who arrived here with his family following Hurricane Maria. He works full-time as a machinist at the Sikorsky plant, and he coaches a prizefighter on the side.

Opinion COVID-19 increases urgency for legislature to pass medical aid-in-dying law
by Dr. Gary Blick

The COVID-19 crisis has exposed the profound tragedy of loved ones dying alone, in a hospital or nursing home, without the care and comfort of loved ones surrounding them. This pandemic also demonstrates the fragility of life, the limits of modern medicine to relieve suffering, and has magnified the systemic racial disparities in our healthcare system, resulting in higher hospitalization and death rates for people in communities of color. We must eradicate these disparities, so everyone has equal access to the full range of end-of-life care options.

Opinion Three fallacies and the truth about vaccines
by Kerri M. Raissian, Ph.D. and Dr. Jody Terranova

Connecticut’s Public Health Committee recently heard public testimony regarding HB6423 and SB568 --  bills that would remove the religious exemption (the medical exemption would rightfully remain in place) from vaccination in order to attend school.  The religious exemption allows parents to effectively opt their children out of vaccines. In doing so, these families can still send their children to Connecticut’s schools, daycares, colleges, and camps.  This places other children at risk of contracting vaccine-preventable illnesses, and it is imperative the Connecticut legislature remove this exception.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO