This map displays the active COVID-19 cases among incarcerated people grouped by the city the prison is located in from March 2020 to February 2022. The nature of prisons makes it a petri dish ripe for the transmission of COVID-19: prisons are overcrowded, have a high turnover rate (meaning that people are constantly coming in and out, bringing the virus with them), and have relatively no areas for social distancing (yards, workout areas, showers, and queues are amongst the spaces where it is impossible to social distance). With the largest incarcerated population in the world, the United States is putting two million people at risk of contracting COVID-19. People in prison are 5.5 times more likely to contract COVID-19 than those outside of prison, ultimately begging the question of how have punitive systems worked to devalue the lives of those on the inside during the pandemic?

Data source: UCLA Law COVID Behind Bars Data Project