Detainees offer window into Cook County Jail virus surge

CHICAGO (AP) – Content warning: This story contains mention of suicidal thoughts and death. ___ This story has been updated with a statement from the sheriff’s office about the jail’s quarantine policies. ___ On New Year’s Eve, Cook County Jail correctional officers removed a sick man from a tier inside Division 9, one of the jail’s maximum-security facilities, according to several men detained there. They weren’t surprised when jail staff quarantined them soon after taking the man away. He had been coughing for days, they said. The surprise came when the quarantined men realized that the jail’s health care provider didn’t plan to have them immediately tested for Covid-19. Tommie Davis was there. Davis, 59, remembers wrestling with mounting fear and uncertainty as days passed and more people on his tier appeared sick. There was no way for him to know for sure who might have Covid-19, he said. At least six detainees said staff never administered tests to people on the tier during their seclusion. After approximately six days, Davis said they were let off quarantine without a test. ‘œIt’s just terrible,’� Davis said in a phone interview from the jail. ‘œThis is like being in hell. Not jail – hell.’� ___ The nonprofit news outlet Injustice Watch provided this article to The Associated Press through a collaboration with Institute for Nonprofit News. ___ Spokespeople for the Cook County sheriff’s office and Cook County Health, the jail’s health care provider, said they could not confirm or deny the detainees’ account but maintained that authorities follow guidance from local and federal health departments for testing and quarantines. Tests may be administered to symptomatic people or those exposed to an infected person, and people held at the jail can request testing – or reject it, according to a spokesperson for Cook County Health. However, multiple people detained at the Cook County Jail said they didn’t know they could request a test, and others expected to be tested after having close contact with someone suspected positive for Covid-19. Injustice Watch interviewed 15 people about their experiences behind bars during the pandemic, as the jail weathered a record-breaking peak of Covid-19 cases; the sheriff’s office reported that at least 430 people in custody on Jan. 10 were currently positive for Covid-19. The number of Covid cases at the jail have since declined. The men, interviewed between Jan. 11 and Feb. 6, expressed fears about getting sick and accused the jail of inadequate testing and quarantine measures, poor social distancing, and unsanitary conditions. These issues are not new. Complaints about the jail’s conditions and access to health care predate the pandemic. In 2020, as the virus spread behind bars, detainees filed an emergency class action lawsuit in federal court alleging that the jail’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis put thousands of lives at risk. A judge ordered the sheriff’s office to implement policies to ensure adequate testing, sanitation, and personal protective equipment. Jails face particular challenges combating outbreaks of contagious viruses such as Covid-19, according to multiple studies. The flow of new admissions, barriers to social distancing, and unsanitary conditions can all contribute to easier spread of viruses. As of Feb. 8, 10 detainees had died after contracting Covid-19 in the jail and five correctional officers had died from the virus, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office.