COVID-19 Tests per 1,000

Since June 23rd, two additional states have reported testing information within prisons, resulting in 40 states providing testing information. Missouri has also joined the group of states that have administered more than 500 COVID tests per 1,000 inmates. Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, and Vermont have all now administered more than one test per inmate. While this is progress, it is important that prison systems continually test inmates, as prisons continue to be hotspots for COVID outbreaks and corrections officers are continually moving between prisons and the surrounding community. Eleven prison systems are still testing fewer inmates per 1,000 than their state’s general population. This is problematic, given that prisons are sites of congregate living, inmates are unable to social distance, and inmates tend to have worse health than the general population.