Putting myself in the shoes of a current prison warden, the issue of Covid-19, aka the coronavirus, and the continuous rise of its cases. As a prison warden during this time there is a genuine concern about the levels of sanitation, contact with loved ones, and connection to the elderly fellow inmates.
If I was a warden, the first thing I would do would be decriminalize the use of sanitation products, I would allow each prisoner going down the line based on age (Oldest first) to clean their cell with a cleaning solution with the supervision of a guard. It would not only protect them but also the guards they come into contact with, I would limit toilet paper to 3 rolls in a cell because of the shortage we face and request the same basic CDC guidelines be followed as much as possible. It makes no sense to be stricter on policies related to sanitation unless you want them and your workers to be infected and further spreading the virus to those even outside the prison.
In terms of visitations and contact to the outside world, I think, unfortunately I would removed the ability to have visitors for the duration to limit the spread as much as possible. In return I would allow them to make phone calls and email loved ones as much as many times a day but in hour intervals and rotation. Then simply have them wipe the phones and computers after every use with a disinfectant wipe. It would not only help with their mental health but also those on the outside who want to know what is happening to their loved ones.
One other idea I had was the rec time issue and trying to maintain social distancing, I think I would have a max of 20 prisoners in the yard at a time for an hour time slot with a constant rotation of groups and possibly individuals in the group, ideally anyways. Though there are many prisoners they couldn’t all get a rec time everyday, so I think i would loosen the restrictions on having books or TV time just because they wouldn’t be able to physically move as much as they might have been able to prior to the virus.
Of course these are in a scenario that was absolutely perfect and there wasn’t mistreatment or abuse or anything else, but unfortunately this isn’t the case and there is a real issue that wardens and prisoners alike are facing. Since Covid-19 is something that this world hasn’t seen in years, we aren’t equipped to handle this situation properly.
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