PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — When COVID-19 hit, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended social distancing, isolation and, eventually, masking. For inmates in Pennsylvania prisons and county jails, those guidelines were nearly impossible to follow.
On March 24, 2020, New Jersey took sweeping action to release 1,000 inmates in an effort to curb the spread and allow for social distancing. At the time, the Garden State had the second-highest number of positive cases in the country behind New York.
“The people who are incarcerated and are institutionalized are medically vulnerable,” Su Ming Yeh, executive director of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, said last April. “We have many concerns about their health and safety.”
Yeh joined the ACLU and other prisoner rights organizations to push for the release of medically vulnerable inmates in facilities and detention centers in Pennsylvania. Last spring, Pennsylvania was among the top 15 states with high levels of COVID-19 infections.
The belief was that high rates in the community would lead to high rates inside prison facilities, even with strict staff protocols. Advocates demanded transparency and filed federal lawsuits to inject court oversight.
“Congregate settings are of high concern given the high transmission rate for COVID-19,” added Yeh.
Shortly thereafter, most county and state prisons canceled visitations and implemented systemwide lockdowns, keeping inmates in their cells 23 hours a day.
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“I literally prayed, ‘God, please don’t let me be sick in here,’ ” said Movita Johnson-Harrell, a gun rights activist and former state representative.
She spoke out after spending three months in the Riverside Correctional Facility on State Road. She was released early for good behavior in April — and tested positive for COVID-19 days later.
“There was no hand sanitizer, there were no gloves, and women did not get masks on my unit till after I left,” she said at the time.
Pennsylvania county jails soon followed New Jersey’s lead, releasing hundreds to make space for social distancing and reduce the likelihood of viral spread. Prison officials rolled out testing protocols and personal protective equipment for inmates.
“It’s really critical that the (Department of Corrections) put masks on everybody,” Pennsylvania Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel said last year.
By summer, COVID-19 cases went down and states loosened closure restrictions. Prisons followed suit and worked to ease protocols.
“Folks are tired of being locked down,” said Wetzel, “and I think that translates well for what’s going on inside the prisons.”
In November 2020, New Jersey released another 2,000 inmates. Prisons in Pennsylvania, meanwhile, loosened lockdowns, allowing more out-of-cell time.
While family visitation is still banned at most facilities — aside from lawyers, who are granted some access — the focus now is getting the vaccine in the arms of those on the inside.
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.