A federal judge has ordered the Arizona Department of Corrections to submit its plans for preparing and managing the coronavirus in state prisons. The action comes after a team of civil rights attorneys found conditions they described as a breeding ground for infection.
Inmates told lawyers from the ACLU and the Prison Law Office that they had received no information about the pending outbreak and some even believed it might be a hoax.
The attorneys found incarcerated people were being forced to use their own bath soap and towels to clean their cells, and that medical staff seemed totally unprepared to screen patients for the virus.
Arizona prison officials say they are following guidelines to the extent they’ve been provided.
Now United States District Judge Roslyn Silver is ordering the state to submit a detailed plan to prepare for the coronavirus by Wednesday.
Arizona has one of the highest incarceration rates in the country with 42,000 inmates, many of whom are elderly and medically frail.
