Latest Data Continue to Show NYS DOCCS Lagging on Testing as New Infections Rise   

NEW YORK, NY—As COVID-19 infections surge across New York State, the latest analysis from the New Yorkers United for Justice (NYUJ) shows that the state continues to lag in critical testing for incarcerated New Yorkers—even as New York’s state prisons now have a total positivity rate of 4.96%, compared to New York State’s 14-day average positivity rate of 3.2% among its general population.

NYUJ’s analysis of data released by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) shows that none of the state’s correctional facilities have done a mass retest of its incarcerated population despite alarming COVID-19 rates. In addition, NYUJ’s analysis found that the five largest DOCCS facilities (i.e., Attica, Clinton, Elmira, Fishkill, Green Haven) have not seen any significant testing in the last two weeks, the average incubation period for COVID-19.

“Despite clear signs of a statewide resurgence in new COVID-19 cases, DOCCS continues its failed approach to contain COVID-19 outbreaks, while being dangerously close to failing to meet even the bare minimum for COVID-19 testing,” said Alexander Horwitz, Executive Director of NYUJ. “The fact not a single facility has been retested in the last two weeks only demonstrates DOCCS’s dangerous continued lack of action on COVID-19’s impact on incarcerated New Yorkers.”

NYUJ calls on DOCCS’s leadership to retest the entire population of New York state prisons and implement mass testing to gain an accurate understanding of COVID-19’s impact in all facilities administered by DOCCS and prevent further outbreaks in prisons and spreads to communities that can be prevented. Since March, DOCCS has failed to answer NYUJ’s calls for mass testing and a publicly disclosed plan to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in correctional facilities and the statewide criminal justice system.

COVID-19 Cases in New York State Prisons