Prisons and Covid-19 Spread in the United States

Bibliographic Data

ID11017172
AuthorsKaitlyn M Sims (0000-0003-2168-3448, Kaitlyn M. Sims, Jeremy Foltz, and Marin Elisabeth Skidmore are with the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Marin Elisabeth Skidmore is also with the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison.), Jeremy D Foltz (0000-0003-3524-5860, St. Elisabeth Hospital), Jeremy Foltz (Kaitlyn M. Sims, Jeremy Foltz, and Marin Elisabeth Skidmore are with the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Marin Elisabeth Skidmore is also with the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison.), Marin Skidmore (0000-0002-9061-932X, St. Elisabeth Hospital), Marin Elisabeth Skidmore (Kaitlyn M. Sims, Jeremy Foltz, and Marin Elisabeth Skidmore are with the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Marin Elisabeth Skidmore is also with the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison.)
Year2021
Volume111
Issue8
Pages1534-1541
Publication date2021-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2021.306352
PMID34260262
OpenAlexW3180152347
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited11

Objectives. To empirically evaluate the relationship between presence of a state or federal prison and COVID-19 case and death counts. Methods. We merged data on locations of federal and state prisons and of local and county jails with daily case and death counts in the United States. We used a selection-on-observables design to estimate the correlation between prisons and COVID-19 spread, controlling for known correlates of COVID-19. Results. We found empirical evidence that the presence and capacities of prisons are strong correlates of county-level COVID-19 case counts. The presence of a state or federal prison in a county corresponded with a 9% increase in the COVID-19 case count during the first wave of the pandemic, ending July 1, 2020. Conclusions. Our results suggest that the public health implications of these facilities extend beyond the health of employees and incarcerated individuals, and policymakers should explicitly consider the public health concerns posed by these facilities when developing pandemic-response policy

2019-20 coronavirus outbreak · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) · Environmental health · Outbreak · Pandemic · Political science · Prison · Public health · Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) · Sociology · State (computer science) · COVID-19 and healthcare impacts · COVID-19 epidemiological studies · Demography · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Medicine · Virology

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