Coronavirus outbreak at East Bay women’s prison

DUBLIN >> A COVID-19 outbreak — which activists had warned about months ago — has occurred at a federal women’s prison in Dublin, with 185 of its nearly 900 inmates infected, plus three staff members.

Activists from around the Bay Area sent letters in August and November to Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin, a lowsecurity federal correctional facility with an adjunct camp. Its inmates recently included celebrities Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, who were serving sentences related to the college admissions scandal.

As reported in November by this news organization, activists from major legal organizations, immigrant and prisoner rights groups sent letters warning officials about the dangers of the coronavirus in the prison. The letters challenged the U.S. Bureau of Prisons’ handling of the coronavirus and included signatures from the ACLU of Northern California, West Coast-based federal and county public defenders, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center of San Francisco and a number of other Bay Area nonprofits.

At the time of the letters, activists were aware of 14 confirmed cases among inmates and staff. As of the latest numbers posted on the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, the Dublin site now has 185 confirmed cases among inmates, and three among staffers.

The prison has a total of 885 female inmates; 775 at the FCI itself and 90 at the camp.

In late October, the advocacy groups learned from prisoners about an outbreak and mass testing, which found positive results for “numerous” people. They also learned that Dublin officials apparently allowed a woman, who was quarantined in the special housing unit, to return to the general population before her positive COVID-19 test had been confirmed.

“T he bottom line is these people are being held in custody by authorities responsible for their well- being. The CDC and scientists know how to prevent this disease, but (the inmates) are sitting in cages provided by the federal government,” said Valerie Zukin of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, who wrote the letter.

“They knowing ly brought people into the facility who have COVID and now those numbers are increasing by the day,” she said.

The letters painted a picture of widespread misery, uncertainty and unhealthadequate, staffers didn’t use masks consistently and inmates weren’t given proper cleaning supplies.

Media representatives for the Federal Bureau of Prisons did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday. But in November, representative Justin Long told this news organization that when the crisis began, the bureau started a nationwide plan that included limits on facility- to-facility transfers and implemented quarantines, medical isolation and screening. Family visits were suspended (and currently still are).