The Legal Aid Society decried the lack of a mandatory screening policy in city jails, opening the door to an unnecessary level of risk to incarcerated New Yorkers and staff alike in the face of this winter’s deadly surge in COVID-19 infections, as reported by WNYC/Gothamist.

“The screening process to enter facilities relies on a staff member exhibiting symptoms, and testing for staff is entirely voluntary,” said Kayla Simpson, a staff attorney on the Prisoners’ Rights Project at the Legal Aid Society.

“What we now know about the prevalence of asymptomatic and presymptomatic transmission of COVID-19, taken with the reality that thousands of staff enter and exit DOC facilities daily, means that this strategy creates a risk of infection entering the jail system every single day,” she added.