BALTIMORE (AP) - Maryland’s prison system has received over 2 million pieces of personal protective equipment since the COVID-19 pandemic began, but advocates for workers and offenders say they’ve been hardly enough to stem the virus spread behind bars.
The nearly 2.2 million items include gowns, gloves, hand sanitizer, surgical masks and other face and eye protections, state prison spokesperson Mark Vernarelli told The Baltimore Sun.
Patrick Moran, council president for the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, said the amount really isn’t that much because workers and inmates go through so much PPE in buildings where social distancing is virtually impossible.
“That’s a big number. However, roughly 26,000 people are going through it every day, and some items are used daily or every other day,” Moran said.
More than 1,100 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Maryland prisons, according to the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. Inmates tested positive in well over 600 in those cases. Eight prisoners and one correctional officer have died from the virus, the department said.
Overall, Maryland health officials reported nearly 1,300 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, marking the largest single-day increase since mid-May, The Sun reported. But Gov. Larry Hogan’s office pointed to a record daily increase in the number of completed tests to nearly 35,000.
Maryland inmates have been placed in lockdown since early in the pandemic, leading to frustrations for the offenders, according to their families and prison advocates. A car caravan in downtown Baltimore on Thursday ended in Towson at a rally demanding more attention and resources inside Maryland’s prisons.
The state has not come up with an adequate and transparent plan for preventing further COVID-19 spread, said Martina Hazeltown with the Family Support Network, which helps prisoners and their families.
“We all realize that we are in uncharted territory, and this is unprecedented,” Hazeltown said. “But the department of public safety does not feel like they have to communicate to anyone.”
The department follows protocol from the state health department and is conducting universal testing, Vernarelli said. Nearly 19,000 inmates had been tested as of this week.
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