by Michael D. Cohen, M.D.

The pandemic was more widespread than ever in the United States, as PLN was going to press. Almost every day records were being set for the daily number of new cases (240,000), hospitalizations (over 100,000), and deaths (nearing 4,000). News articles say the two deadliest ...

by Michael D. Cohen, M.D.

The U.S. is experiencing the most widespread COVID-19 epidemic so far. Daily new infections diagnosed are over 150,000. More than 70,000 are hospitalized on any given day. As PLN was going to press in late November, deaths exceeded 1,000 per day and more the 250,000 Americans had died.

Because deaths lag cases and hospitalizations by at least three weeks, we can expect the daily death rate to climb substantially in the coming months. Some are predicting over 3,000 dead per day by late December. Interventions to slow infections such as wearing masks, limiting indoor public encounters at bars, restaurants and gyms, limiting the number of people attending mass gatherings such as worship services, funerals and parties, are being initiated. It will take several weeks for such interventions to have an effect on infection rates. The pandemic is going to get a lot worse before the rate of daily new infections starts to decline.

That’s extremely troubling for prisoners and their families because prisons and jails have a higher rate of infection and death than the general U.S. population, largely due to overcrowding and an inability to social distance and obtain adequate personal protective equipment. In ...

by Michael D. Cohen, M.D.

It may be useful to know some more about the words epidemiologists use to describe disease statistics. Incidence refers to the number of new infections. Prevalence or “active cases” refers to the number currently infected. Infection Rate refers to the number of cases per unit of population (for example, per million population). Other measures of prevalence may also be used as indicators of the severity of the epidemic in a city or state or correctional system, such as: number currently hospitalized; number newly hospitalized, number in ICU; number on ventilator; number died. Similarly, infection rate per 1,000 persons incarcerated in a state system may be used to compare the severity of the epidemic among systems with widely differing total numbers of people imprisoned.

Infection rates are increasing rapidly throughout the U.S. At press time, the Midwest had the most rapid increase in rate of infection (steepest upward angle of the rate graph) and a higher rate of infection than ever before. In the Northeast, the current rate as of October 13 was about 95 per million population. In the Midwest, the rate was about 240 per million population. By the time you read this article, ...

by Michael D. Cohen, M.D.

Recommendations for behaviors to reduce exposure to coronavirus and infection are changing as more knowledge is gained about the virus and the disease. Of course, implementing these behaviors in a prison setting is often impossible, but it’s worth passing on newer information so prisoners can ...

by Michael D. Cohen, M.D.

There is growing concern that communities that host jails and prisons will never be able to control the coronavirus unless the epidemic in correctional institutions is well controlled.

If staff continue to get infected and introduce the virus back into the community, there will still ...

by Michael D. Cohen, M.D.

Though the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage in the United States and around the world, numerous areas of the country have staged re-openings. They were premature and poorly conceived, so it’s no surprise that half the states have increasing numbers of cases. 

Several states subsequently ...

by Michael D. Cohen, M.D.

We are entering a new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Efforts to prevent infection by closing all but essential businesses, staying at home, physical distancing, wearing face masks, frequent hand washing, no face touching, and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces have begun ...

by Michael D. Cohen, M.D.

In the April issue of Prison Legal News, I discussed the nature of the disease called COVID-19 (COrona VIrus Disease-2019) and ways to protect yourself and your facility through personal cleanliness, social distancing and environmental cleanliness. This month I will continue those themes and also ...

by Michael D. Cohen, M.D.

Introduction

The novel coronavirus is now a global pandemic and is widespread in the United States, causing a disease called COVID-19. It is likely that a majority of the population will eventually become infected with this virus. Here is some information about the coronavirus and ...

by Michael D. Cohen M.D.

Introduction

This article is about high blood pressure, also called hypertension. Hypertension is a common chronic disease that arises slowly and continues for years. It generally causes few or no symptoms. Treatment is directed at controlling the blood pressure, not curing the underlying disease. Hypertension ...