COVID-19 Quarantine Hits Michigan Prisons

As of Friday, March 13, Michigan's Governor Whitmer issued directives to restrict visitor and outside volunteer access to Michigan's prisons due to the Corona virus pandemic. In an abundance of caution, the governor closed prisons to outsiders because prisons are particularly susceptible to what the medical field calls "herd transmission." Prisons are closed communities where even the most vulnerable, the sick and elderly, are unable to avoid the spreading of an infection. Prisons are, by their very nature, "herd" communities. Fortunately, as of this writing, no incident of the Corona virus has been discovered in Michigan's prisons, and we hope it stays that way. Officers and staff are being "monitored" for signs of the virus before they are allowed to enter the facilities. 

So, what does a medical quarantine look like inside prison? Essentially, there are two mass medical quarantine scenarios. The first, which is what we are currently under, simply restricts outside contact. That means no visits and no outside volunteers. Special programs, like church services, concerts, yoga class, book club, and even college classes are restricted due to absence of volunteers. At this facility (MTU), the chaplain has kept church services running with prisoners leading the services, but other facilities may simly cancel all primary and secondary services. Other programs, like book club and yoga classes, will simply not meet during the quarantine. Additionally, because of reduced staffing, some critical programs, like substance abuse and domestic violence programming, may not meet during the quarantine. Otherwise, yard and gym schedules continue to operate, and some limited programs or services continue to run. 

The second scenario is more restrictive--and hopefully we don't get to that point. The more restrictive quarantine is likely to happen if a COVID-19 case shows up on a prison compound. This would likely involve quarantine to our cells. All activities outside of our units are likely to shut down, and in-house movement would be restricted. This scenario is difficult to maintain for long periods in prison because in-cell quarantines are highly stressful for prisoners. I imagine these quarantines can also be highly stressful for staff who must manage elevated levels of prisoner stress. 

Whatever the scenario, quarantines are highly interruptive, even for prisoners. While college students outside of prison are able to complete classes online, prisoner students in college cannot. Other prisoners are in required programming before they can parole, and a quarantine could mean a delayed parole. What that means for sure, we don't know yet, and that lack of knowledge can be stressful. But, like people outside of prison, prisoners have no control over government mandated restrictions. Parents who count on their children being in school must now scrammble to arrange for daily care while the parents work. Many other parts of our daily lives are interrupted by this pandemic. But it won't last forever. 

Before long, we'll be back to our "normal" daily lives, and this pandemic will just be a story we tell to reminisce with each other and future generations. Our lives are temporarily altered by these quarantines, but those who lose loved ones to the virus are much more deeply impacted. Yes, it's stressful and inconvenient, and some prisoners are notoriously bad at handling stressful changes to their schedules, but it could be worse.