Iran as well: Iran to pardon 10,000, including 'security' prisoners - Announcement follows temporary release of 85,000 to ease pressure on prisons amid coronavirus crisis
Possibly... but the alternative to release is keeping all the prisoners within the confined quarters of the prison, which virtually guarantees they all get infected eventually, and if that happens...
Possibly... but the alternative to release is keeping all the prisoners within the confined quarters of the prison, which virtually guarantees they all get infected eventually, and if that happens then the local health system having to try to deal with a huge wave of infected prisoners and prison staff all at once. Either that or the prison could try to implement incredibly strict isolation measures for all prisoners and staff to try to ensure it doesn't spread any more within the prison. However that may not even work, especially due to the lack of available tests for the virus, is potentially inhumane, and attempting to do so might even result in riots (as seen in Italy).
So unfortunately, it may be fast approaching "pick your poison" time, at this point... if it's not too late already, that is. And also unfortunately, I suspect this is a dilemma that is likely going to slowly start playing out again and again across the world eventually, since (much like cruise ships) prisons are nearly the perfect environment for this virus to rapidly spread in.
The board overseeing New York City’s jails urged officials to start releasing vulnerable populations and those being held on low-level offenses as the coronavirus outbreak hit the notorious Rikers Island complex and nearby jails — infecting at least 38 people.
Another inmate, meanwhile, became the first in the country to test positive in a federal jail.
“Fewer people in the jails will save lives and minimize transmission among people in custody as well as staff,” Board of Correction interim chairwoman Jacqueline Sherman wrote in a letter to New York’s criminal justice leaders this weekend. “Failure to drastically reduce the jail population threatens to overwhelm the City jails’ healthcare system as well its basic operations.”
Sherman pushed for the release of more than 2,000 people in custody in New York City jails, including those over 50 years old; those with health conditions such as lung and heart disease; those being held for parole violations, such as missing a curfew; and those serving sentences of less than a year.
Prisons have been a big issue in Italy. Here's an article from almost two weeks ago, where they were having major riots and other problems already: https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-sets-italian-prison-ablaze/a-52742593
Iran as well:
Iran to pardon 10,000, including 'security' prisoners - Announcement follows temporary release of 85,000 to ease pressure on prisons amid coronavirus crisis
Aren't these prisoner releases just asking to get more outbreaks in the community? Definitely a bad situation.
Possibly... but the alternative to release is keeping all the prisoners within the confined quarters of the prison, which virtually guarantees they all get infected eventually, and if that happens then the local health system having to try to deal with a huge wave of infected prisoners and prison staff all at once. Either that or the prison could try to implement incredibly strict isolation measures for all prisoners and staff to try to ensure it doesn't spread any more within the prison. However that may not even work, especially due to the lack of available tests for the virus, is potentially inhumane, and attempting to do so might even result in riots (as seen in Italy).
So unfortunately, it may be fast approaching "pick your poison" time, at this point... if it's not too late already, that is. And also unfortunately, I suspect this is a dilemma that is likely going to slowly start playing out again and again across the world eventually, since (much like cruise ships) prisons are nearly the perfect environment for this virus to rapidly spread in.
The longer you wait, the more the infection will spread.
From the article: