PHILADELPHIA – Since the outset of COVID-19, the Philadelphia Department of Prisons (PDP) has proactively taken all measures possible to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19 within its facilities to protect the PDP’s staff and incarcerated population. In April of 2020, when COVID-19 first hit its peak, a shelter in place was instituted for incarcerated individuals in order to mitigate transmission, permitting them to leave their cells for showers and phone calls daily.

In early June of 2020, after a universal testing of the incarcerated population showed an infection rate of 5.8 percent, and due to a decreased number of positive cases, the PDP was able to increase the amount of time for inmates to be out of their cells to up to three (3) hours daily. PDP was able to maintain that amount of time out of cell for six (6) months of the pandemic, until the beginning of December 2020. On December 5, 2020, due to an uptick in asymptomatic positive cases, the PDP returned to shelter-in-place for all PDP incarcerated individuals. This meant that they were only permitted to leave their cell for showers, phone calls, virtual visits with attorneys, and, when it became available on December 15, virtual visits with family and loved ones.

“We have continued to make every effort to mitigate transmission of COVID-19 to best protect staff and the incarcerated population within our PDP facilities, while working with and reporting positive cases to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health,” said PDP Commissioner Blanche Carney.

In December 2020, in accordance with a court order, PDP initiated a universal COVID-19 testing of all PDP staff, as well as a second universal testing of all incarcerated individuals. Those results are as follows: Number of staff tested: 2594, Number of staff positive: 30, 1 percent infection rate. Number of inmates tested: 4077, Number of inmates positive: 246, 6 percent infection rate.

Commissioner Carney added, “We have now left shelter in place and incarcerated individuals are being permitted out of their cells for forty-five minutes daily. We will continue to monitor our number of positive cases and will increase time out of cell accordingly. The PDP will continue its mitigation efforts to keep staff and the incarcerated population safe.”