COVID-19 in Prisons: A July 2020 Snapshot

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Published July 2020. This article describes prison conditions and release options as they stood then. The counts below are a historical record as of July 14, 2020. They are not current.

This article records how COVID-19 had spread through state and federal prisons by mid-July 2020, for anyone who was in prison then and for the people helping them. The question of early release, as the article stated it in 2020, is near the end. A later section says what has changed in federal law since then. The state-by-state figures are part of the July 2020 record. They are not a statement of state law.

These figures are a historical snapshot. The numbers are as of July 14, 2020, and are not kept up to date. Source: state and federal prison agencies.

What does this 2020 data show?

In 2020, data was collected on COVID-19 infections in state and federal prisons. The figures below show how the virus had affected prisons in each state, and in the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the agency that runs federal prisons, as of mid-July 2020.

How many prisoners had COVID-19?

As of July 14, 2020, at least 64,119 people in prison had tested positive. That was about 13 percent more than one week earlier. At least 40,528 prisoners had recovered.

New cases among prisoners hit a record high that week, after slowing in June. Much of the rise came from large increases in positive tests in Texas, California, and the federal Bureau of Prisons, along with outbreaks in Idaho, Iowa, Oregon, and South Carolina.

Cases first peaked in late April 2020. That is when states such as Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas started testing large numbers of prisoners. Those tests suggested that many more people than anyone knew had been carrying the virus without symptoms.

How many prisoners died?

The first known prisoner death from COVID-19 was in Georgia. Anthony Cheek, age 49, died on March 26, 2020. He had been held at Lee State Prison near Albany, Georgia, an area hit hard by the disease. By July 14, 2020, at least 680 more prisoners had died of causes related to the virus. The total number of deaths rose 5 percent in the week before July 14.

How many cases did each state report?

Each line shows the state, its total cases, and its cases per 10,000 prisoners, as of July 14, 2020.

Texas — 12,071 — 861
Federal — 8,896 — 516
California — 6,458 — 545
Ohio — 5,082 — 1,042
Michigan — 3,801 — 1,009
Arkansas — 3,482 — 1,915
Tennessee — 3,186 — 1,506
New Jersey — 2,892 — 1,598
Florida — 2,632 — 287
Virginia — 1,530 — 536
Connecticut — 1,346 — —
Georgia — 1,064 — 194
North Carolina — 1,052 — 311
Kansas — 910 — 920
Indiana — 728 — 271
Idaho — 694 — 908
Colorado — 668 — 384
Louisiana — 663 — 210
Maryland — 628 — 334
Kentucky — 624 — 530
Arizona — 569 — 137
South Carolina — 563 — 317
New York — 545 — 127
New Mexico — 467 — 709
Massachusetts — 391 — 478
Minnesota — 390 — 452
Illinois — 337 — 91
Oregon — 314 — 217
Pennsylvania — 292 — 66
Wisconsin — 291 — 129
Delaware — 288 — 623
Washington — 277 — 163
Missouri — 245 — 94
Iowa — 224 — 267
Alabama — 138 — 65
West Virginia — 126 — 245
Mississippi — 86 — 46
Vermont — 47 — 334
Utah — 38 — 62
Rhode Island — 18 — —
Nevada — 18 — 14
Oklahoma — 11 — 5
Montana — 11 — 29
Nebraska — 8 — 14
North Dakota — 7 — 56
South Dakota — 4 — 11
Maine — 4 — 20
Alaska — 2 — 4
New Hampshire — 1 — 4
Hawaii — 0 — 0
Wyoming — — — —

A dash (—) means no figure was reported.

How were prison staff affected?

Prisoners were not the only people at risk. Correctional officers, nurses, chaplains, wardens, and other prison workers could also get sick, and they could carry the virus into prisons and back home to their communities. Much less was known about staff, because many prison workers were not being tested on a regular basis.

In the week before July 14, 2020, 18 states reported how many staff members they had tested: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and West Virginia. Where states did report staff cases, most said the count included only workers who chose to report a diagnosis, often when calling in sick.

How many prison staff got sick or died?

As of July 14, 2020, more than 13,863 prison staff members had tested positive, and 47 staff deaths had been publicly reported. As with prisoners, new staff cases that week were the highest since tracking began.

Where can you find current information?

For current information about the federal prison system, check the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.

Federal Bureau of Prisons (bop.gov)

Can a health risk help someone get out of federal prison early?

As this article stated it in July 2020: a judge can reduce a federal sentence through compassionate release when there are “extraordinary and compelling reasons.” That sentence is the 2020 description. It is not the current rule. The update below states the statute and the 2023 policy statement. For a current guide, see compassionaterelease.com.

Learn about compassionate release at compassionaterelease.com

What has changed since 2020

Two federal release rules have changed since this article was published. The counts above have not been updated.

During the covered emergency period, the CARES Act let the Director of the Bureau of Prisons lengthen home confinement under 18 U.S.C. § 3624(c)(2). The authority to make new placements under that Act ended when the covered emergency period ended. A person already placed may remain in home confinement for the rest of the sentence if the person complies with the conditions of supervision (28 C.F.R. § 0.96(u), adopted at 88 Fed. Reg. 19830 (Apr. 4, 2023)). On April 5, 2023, the Bureau of Prisons said that a person placed on CARES Act home confinement who stays in compliance will remain on home confinement for the rest of the sentence.

CARES Act home confinement on sentencing.net

Compassionate release is a separate statute. A court may reduce a prison term on the Director’s motion, or on the defendant’s motion after the defendant fully exhausts administrative appeals or 30 days have passed since the warden received the request, whichever is earlier. The court must consider the factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). It must find extraordinary and compelling reasons, or that the defendant is at least 70, has served at least 30 years of a sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3559(c), and is not a danger. The reduction must be consistent with the applicable Sentencing Commission policy statement (18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)).

USSG §1B1.13 was amended by Amendment 814, effective November 1, 2023. It applies to a motion by the Director or by the defendant. Section 1B1.13(b) lists these categories: “(1) Medical Circumstances of the Defendant,” “(2) Age of the Defendant,” “(3) Family Circumstances of the Defendant,” “(4) Victim of Abuse,” “(5) Other Reasons,” and “(6) Unusually Long Sentence.” The 2026 Guidelines Manual shows the same categories. The amendments that took effect November 1, 2026 made only a wording change to §1B1.13, replacing “Bureau of Prisons” with “Federal Bureau of Prisons.”

Current information on federal compassionate release: compassionaterelease.com

Bureau of Prisons statement on CARES Act home confinement (April 5, 2023)