Making sure not to look past or become numb to persistently ugly pandemic realities in incarceration nations

It has now been a couple of weeks since I did a round-up of prison-COVID press pieces. To their credit, the press and commentators keeping reporting and discussing the discouraging tales that keep emerging from our prisons and jails.  But I cannot help but find, as we enter the sixth month of this pandemic, that it has become disconcertingly easier to become numb to these persistently depressing stories.  Eager not to look past these still critical realities, here is a round-up of just a few headlines and pieces catching my eye recently:

From CBS News, “More than 500 inmates at Arizona prison test positive for COVID-19, according to corrections officials“

From the Chicago Tribune, “2 dead at Marion federal prison during COVID-19 surge despite restrictive conditions, say inmates and family members“

From the Cincinnati Enquirer, “COVID cases climb in Ohio prisons, worrying families and those employed to serve prisoners“

From CNN, “Inside the federal prison where three out of every four inmates have tested positive for coronavirus“

From Forbes, “As Bureau of Prisons Enters “Phase 9” Of COVID-19 Plan, BOP Staff Wonder If There Is A Real Plan“

From News Junkie, “Prisons and Parties Drive Connecticut’s Coronavirus Case Numbers“

From the Orlando Sentinel, “Many who have died of COVID-19 in Florida’s prisons were eligible for parole“

From the Washington Post, “The Federal Bureau of Prisons response to the coronavirus has been disastrous and deadly“