PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Well before we were all ordered to close businesses and stay at home, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections implemented COVID-19 safety measures to try to curb any spread of the virus. On March 11, 2020, the DOC enhanced screenings with temperature checks for employers and visitors in an effort to detect the coronavirus.
But those efforts would prove to have not been enough.
Within days, visits to all facilities were canceled. By March 30, SCI Phoenix in Montgomery County reported its first positive case. The next day, another one. Four staff members soon became infected, too.
By April 1, DOC Secretary John Wetzel announced a systemwide lockdown.
“Most of the out-of-cell time will take place on the housing unit and with small groups trying to achieve social distancing in the places where we can,” Wetzel told reporters during a virtual press conference at the time.
The lockdown forced inmates to eat in their cells. They were allowed only virtual visits and letters. Staff began wearing masks.
“Early on, we decided that if coronavirus was going to come in, it would be an outside-in situation,” he added.
The virus spread rapidly from the “outside-in,” as social distancing was nearly impossible behind the wall. In Philadelphia, the city reported 58 positive cases in local jails by April 7. The corrections officers union called for more transparency.
“We need to know the number of quarantines and we need to know the number of positive cases within the Philadelphia Department of Prisons,” said Eric Hill, business agent for Local 159.
Protests soon followed.
“Folks in prison, they are the most vulnerable at this point in time, and we need to protect them like we protect everyone else,” said Rabbi Ari Lev Fornari of West Philadelphia synagogue Kol Tzedek. “It’s extremely dangerous for everyone inside that jail. They are in close quarters. They are not able to access medical care. They are not properly able to quarantine.”
Prisoner rights advocates began pushing for inmates’ early release and a reprieve of sentences. Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order on April 15 allowing the DOC to suspend sentences of non-violent inmates to help lower prison populations.
“We’re really focusing on ‘low-hanging fruit,’ ” said Wetzel, who was expected to recommend about 1,800 inmates for release. By early 2021, that number from the DOC is less than 200.
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Similar decarceration efforts took place in other jurisdictions. The Philadelphia district attorney, chief of the Defender Association of Philadelphia and judges worked together to establish protocols for releasing low-risk inmates.
“The petitions are being reviewed and those who can be released will be released,” said Mayor Jim Kenney at the time.
Cases were prioritized for release if defendants had served their minimum time; were in jail for economic crimes; were on a maximum bail of $15,000; or were free of gun, drug, sex or violent charges. Ultimately, hundreds were released from Philadelphia prisons.
Now, the focus is on getting prison staff and inmates access to the vaccine.
Currently, the DOC has rolled out vaccinations in three facilities: SCI Waymart in northeast Pennsylvania, SCI Laurel Highlands in western Pennsylvania, and SCI Muncy in the north-central part of the state. Officials are trying to expand the effort, but getting shots into arms is a whole other battle.
COVID: Then and Now is a KYW Newsradio original monthlong series looking back at the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic in Philadelphia. Reporters revisit the news from exactly one year ago and examine how protocols, restrictions and science have evolved since then. Check back weekdays in March for more.