The Arizona Department of Corrections has canceled in-person visitations for all publicly and privately run-prisons.
But there are still ways for families to communicate with loved ones.
The department announced on Friday that visitation to all complexes has been suspended for 30 days, saying it was taking the action to mitigate the potential spread of the coronavirus in the prisons and its impact on staff and inmates.
The Department of Corrections said policies for phone calls and written letters will remain in effect, and inmates will have access to two 15-minute phone calls per week free of charge.
The department says it is following state and national protocols for responding to the outbreak, but a group of civil rights attorneys who recently toured the Florence prison says the department is unprepared and they are calling on intervention from a federal judge.
There are currently nearly 42,000 people incarcerated in state prisons.
