Fast Facts (Full BOP stats can be found here)
Confirmed active cases at 90 BOP facilities and 13 RRCs
Currently positive-testing inmates: 279 (up from 238) Currently positive-testing staff: 326 (up from 318) Recovered inmates currently in the BOP: 48,127 (down from 48,244) Recovered staff: 14,390 (up from 14,381)
Institutions with the largest number of currently positive-testing inmates:
Carswell FMC: 67 (up from 54)
Butner FCI: 51 (unchanged)
Phoenix FCI: 30 (up from 29)
Institutions with the largest number of currently positive-testing staff:
Central Office HQ: 58 (unchanged)
Rochester FMC: 27 (unchanged)
Brooklyn MDC: 14 (up from 13)
System-wide testing results: Presently, BOP has 144,239 federal inmates in BOP-managed institutions and 13,941 in community-based facilities. Today's stats: Completed tests: 128,666 (down from 128,672) Positive tests: 55,315 (down from 55,320)
Total vaccine doses administered: 336,063 (up from 335,006)
News Note: Wrongful COVID death action goes forward against BOP; new COVID wave coming?
Lisa-legalinfor.com reports in a post today:
[T]he Santa Barbara Independent reported last week that the estate of Mohamed Yusuf, who was serving the final year of a 132-month sentence at USP Lompoc when he died of COVID-19, is pursuing a wrongful death action against the prison for allegedly allowing him to die of COVID without providing proper medical care.
Yusuf was 37 years old, married with three children, and in “sturdy health” when he tested positive for the coronavirus on May 7, 2020, the lawsuit states. At the time, in the early days of the pandemic, the prison complex was experiencing a massive outbreak that ultimately killed five inmates and infected more than 1,200, more than any other BOP facility. The suit alleges that “while correctional staff knew of the Decedent’s dire need for help, they did not provide prompt and appropriate care and assistance, and some joked about the matter, going so far as to call the Decedent a ‘faker’ and a ‘wimp’.”
Why does any of this matter? The nation is bracing for another wave of COVID-19 just as a surge in new Omicron subvariants has raised concern among scientists. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data last week showing that BQ.1 and its brother BQ.1.1 now account for over 10% of US cases, while BF.7 accounts for another 5%.
“Within a few weeks, things could look upside down,” according to John Swartzberg, an infectious disease and vaccinology expert at the University of California, Berkeley. If the subvariants keep spreading at the same rate, they could overtake BA.5 as the nation’s most prevalent SARS-CoV-2 strain. Globally, mutations also include contenders such as the Omicron subvariant XBB, which is suspected of being able to evade vaccines.
Just this morning, The New York Times reported that the recent decline in Covid-19 cases across the United States has started to level off. “Coronavirus-related hospitalizations are ticking up in a number of states, including Arizona, Indiana, Illinois, Nevada, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin. And there have been a variety of unnerving headlines about the immune evasion and increased transmissibility of the next round of coronavirus subvariants.”
BOP, Lompoc, COVIYesterday, White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said the COVID deaths, which average more than 2,600 per week, remain too high. At the same time, he said, the new omicron variants are knocking out key tools used to protect the most vulnerable.
As of yesterday, the BOP reported that COVID was present in 70% of its institutions, with 238 inmates and 318 staff ill with the virus.
Death Watch (Note: The BOP press website announces BOP COVID-related deaths here.) No new deaths within the BOP have been announced, leaving the reported inmate death toll at 309. Eleven of the inmates died while on home confinement. Staff deaths remain at 7.
Job Posting: The Center for Justice and Human Dignity
The Center for Justice and Human Dignity is an education, advocacy, and training center, focused on advancing meaningful change in prison sentencing practices with the goal of reducing the number of people sent to prison and expanding the judicial use of alternative-to-incarceration sanctions.
The Center for Justice and Human Dignity is seeking an Executive Director who will have overall programmatic, operational, development, and fundraising responsibility for the development of CJHD and its staff, programs, public engagement, and execution of its mission. The Executive Director will establish and operationalize programmatic goals and strategic initiatives in alignment with stakeholder interests (including the board and the organization’s founder). Their role will include developing relationships with partners, establishing and implementing fundraising strategy, and leading public relations/media, programs, and operations. The Executive Director will be responsible for (in collaboration with the board and founding partner) the development and implementation of a self-sustaining, funding infrastructure to establish the organization’s full financial independence from its incubator. This position is remote and open to applicants in any location within the United States.
Respond to: aviva@aleph-institute.org
Complete Posting can be viewed here.