• Carlos Franco-Paredes, Nazgol Ghandnoosh, Hassan Latif, Martin Krsak, Andres F Henao-Martinez, Megan Robins, Lilian Vargas Barahona, and Eric M Poeschla.
• Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA; Hospital Infantil de México, Federico Gomez, México City, México. Electronic address: carlos.franco-paredes@cuanschutz.edu.
• Lancet Infect Dis. 2021 Jan 1; 21 (1): e11-e16.

AbstractJails and prisons are exceptionally susceptible to viral outbreaks, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The USA has extremely high rates of incarceration and COVID-19 is causing an urgent health crisis in correctional facilities and detention centres. Epidemics happening in prisons are compounding the elevated risks that COVID-19 poses to people of colour, older people, and those with comorbidities. Intersectoral community re-entry efforts in the USA and other countries have shown that releasing people from correctional facilities as a pandemic-era public health intervention is safe and can support both public safety and community rebuilding. Therefore, substantial decarceration in the USA should be initiated. A point of focus for such efforts is that many people in prison are serving excessively long sentences and pose acceptable safety risks for release. Properly managed, correctional depopulation will prevent considerable COVID-19 morbidity and mortality and reduce prevailing socioeconomic and health inequities.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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