‘DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN’
Coronavirus case at Brooklyn prison sparks calls to release vulnerable inmates
BY ROSE ADAMS
After an inmate at a Brooklyn
detention center was diagnosed
with COVID-19, activists
have renewed their demands for
federal authorities to release detainees
vulnerable to the virus.
“This is a real disaster waiting
to happen,” said David Patton,
the executive director of the
Federal Defenders of New York at
a press conference on March 22.
The male detainee — who
was arrested and brought to
the Metropolitan Detention
Center in Sunset Park while
waiting a court date on March
16 — fi rst complained of chest
pains on March 19, and underwent
coronavirus testing at
a nearby hospital, according
to a spokesperson at the Federal
Bureau of Prisons, who
said the test results came back
positive on March 21. The inmate
had been kept in isolation
while awaiting offi cial results,
and his bunkmates have since
been quarantined, the spokesperson
added.
To stem the virus’ spread,
authorities have suspended all
visits to all federal jails, stopped
inmates from moving within
facilities, and are testing and
quarantining all new inmates,
the bureau confi rmed.
However, a group of public
defenders blasted those precautions
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COURIER LIFE,12 MARCH 27-APRIL 2, 2020
as infective at reducing
the virus’ spread through
the crowded jails — which
house a number of inmates
considered to be particularly
at risk.
About one-third of the 2,000
inmates detained at Sunset
Park’s Metropolitan Detention
Center and Manhattan’s Metropolitan
Correctional Center
are classifi ed as within
the “vulnerable population”
— meaning the virus is more
likely to be lethal if they contract
it, Patton said.
Both facilities — which
mostly house people awaiting
their trials, as well as some
serving short sentences — have
a constant fl ow of new arrests,
which make them a hotbed for
disease, according to Patton.
“These are places that are
particularly susceptible to contagion,”
Patton warned on March
22. “They are not sanitary, social
distancing is not a possibility,
they’re overcrowded.”
To truly mitigate coronavirus’
spread, Patton and a group
of elected offi cials claimed the
US Attorney’s Offi ce needed
to release vulnerable inmates
who are not deemed a risk to
the general public, and stop
new inmates from entering the
premises to allow inmates to
be physically spread out.
“Mitigating efforts such as
physical distancing and frequent
hand washing is impossible
in jails. People are escorted
most places in correctional
settings so it’s very diffi cult for
people to stand six feet apart,”
said Jonathan Giftos, the former
medical director at Rikers
Island. “The only measure that
will meaningfully impact the
spread coronavirus in the jail
system is to depopulate.”
Last week, authorities agreed
to release 56 vulnerable inmates
from Rikers Island, where about
38 people have tested positive
for the virus as of March 23, the
Associated Press reported. Another
200 people are being reviewed
for release, according to
Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Advocates, however, said
that offi cials have to release a
much larger percentage of inmates
in order to reduce the
threat of further contagion.
“It needs to be an effi cient,
quick, and big effort, it can’t
just be a handful of people,”
Patton said. “We have several
hundred people who fall into
the CDC vulnerable category,
and we need to make a massive
effort to get them out of there
An inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park tested
positive for COVID-19. Federal Bureau of Prisons
Enrico Ascher, MD
Natalie Marks,ELEANORA IADGAROVA,Anil Hingorani, MD
Advanced Aortic Aneurysm Center
of the Vascular Institute of New York
Established in 1992
Extraordinary techniques by internationally
recognized vascular specialists...
Drs. Enrico Ascher, Anil Hingorani and Natalie Marks have introduced
for the very fi rst time in New York City a minimally invasive tecnnique to repair
an abdominal aortic aneurysm via a tiny puncture in each groin under local anesthesia.
Patients may be discharged home the very same day and have supper with the family!
Aortic aneurysms are more common than you think!
They are known to be “silent killers”.
They are known silent killers”.
If you are 60 years of age or older you may benefi t
from a visit to a board certifi ed vascular specialist.
www.VascularNYC.com
www.VascularNYC.com
ELEANORA IADGAROVA, NP
Enrico Ascher, MD
Anil MD
Natalie Marks, MD
/www.VascularNYC.com
/www.VascularNYC.com
/www.VascularNYC.com
/www.VascularNYC.com