A new study published by Science Advances has shed light on the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on mortality rates within the US prison system. The comprehensive analysis, conducted at the height of the crisis in 2020, uncovered a staggering 77% increase in prison deaths compared to the previous year. This surge in mortality rates is more than three times higher than the increase observed in the general population.

Lead author, Naomi Sugie, who is an associate professor of criminology, law, and society at the University of California, Irvine, expressed concern about the limited understanding of the actual toll Covid-19 has taken on incarcerated individuals. Sugie shared that the conditions described by prisoners during the study were dire and potentially violating their health and human rights.

The study, named the PrisonPandemic project, focused on the effect of Covid-19 within California prisons, which implemented containment lockdowns in 2020. Shockingly, the institutions drastically reduced facility communication and transparency, including failing to record causes of death for that year.

Despite the existence of the Death in Custody Reporting Act, which requires the collection of information regarding deaths in US prisons, there has been a lack of publicly available data on mortality rates since 2019. The Bureau of Justice statistics for 2022 revealed that approximately 2,500 prisoners died from Covid-related causes between March 2020 and February 2021. However, this figure did not capture the rise in mortality rates from natural or unnatural causes.

The study authors point to systemic failures within the prison system that increased the risk of illness and limited access to medical care, contributing to the alarming increase in deaths. Pandemic-related lockdowns and restrictions, such as isolation, visitor prohibitions, and the use of solitary confinement instead of medical isolation, exacerbated stress, mental health challenges, and violence, ultimately leading to a higher risk of deaths from drug overdoses, suicide, and violence.

Sugie emphasized that many of these deaths, even if related to Covid-19, may not be officially recorded as such. She highlighted that like in the general population, systemic testing was not widespread in prisons, resulting in underreporting of Covid-related deaths.

This groundbreaking study brings the urgent need for reform and increased transparency within the US prison system to the forefront. The findings highlight the critical importance of addressing the flaws and shortcomings in providing adequate healthcare and safety measures for incarcerated individuals, particularly during times of crisis.