Coronavirus has swept through the US federal prison system over the past three weeks, leaving more than 300 confirmed cases among inmates, at least nine prisoners dead and raising concerns about the government’s handling of the crisis.
Inside some facilities, inmates have said they are locked in crammed and cramped cells without face masks and enough soap, and guards have grown concerned that they could spread the disease to their families.
At a prison in Butner, North Carolina, the number of cases jumped by dozens — nearly 400% — earlier this week. And in Oakdale, Louisiana, where six inmates have died in recent days, armed corrections officers had to quell a small uprising with pepper spray on Wednesday, an official at the prison said.
In his first interview since the pandemic began, Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal defended the steps his agency has taken amid what he described as the most challenging situation the federal prison system has been confronted with in decades.
“I don’t think anybody was ready for this Covid, so we’re dealing with it just as ready as anybody else and I’d be proud to say we’re doing pretty good,” said Carvajal, who was named director in late February during the pandemic.
“It’s easy to critique those hot spots, but we don’t control that. We can only control the people inside of our institutions, and we put things in place to do that.”
Read the full exclusive interview here: