The Legal Aid Society sent a letter today demanding greater transparency from the City on COVID-19 data from Rikers Island and other local jails. So far, the New York City Department of Correction (DOC) has failed to make data readily available for all New Yorkers to access.

The public has little information on COVID-19 positive cases, the number of tests administered, the number of incarcerated New Yorkers in quarantine, and other critical information, reports Politico New York.

Legal Aid urged the City to publically disclosure the following:

1. The number of staff and incarcerated people, reported separately, who have been tested and results reported for COVID-19;
2. The number of staff and incarcerated people, reported separately, who have been diagnosed with COVID-19;
3. The New York City jail facilities where people who have been tested and diagnosed are detained or work and come into contact with other people;
4. The cumulative numbers of staff, and incarcerated people who were tested while in custody, including those who have since been released or transferred to another detention facility or hospital;
5. The number of people in DOC custody currently in CHS care for COVID-19;
6. The number of people in DOC custody who have been isolated or moved for observation for COVID-19;
7. The number and location of people incarcerated by DOC who are being treated for COVID-19 in the hospital prison wards.

“The lack of concrete information from DOC and [Correctional Health Services] is putting us all at risk. While there has been some information disclosed about the number of infections in New York City jails, there has been no disclosure of which facilities are impacted, or how daily life in the jails is different for staff, incarcerated people, and civilian workers,” said Tina Luongo, Attorney-in-Charge of the Criminal Defense Practice at The Legal Aid Society.