Conditions in Ohio’s prisons stricken by the COVID-19 pandemic are terrible. Inmate and prison workers are at high risk. Ohio’s prisons have a 9% rate of infection, which is the highest in the state (compared to less than 1% for the rest of the population). 

Some of the COVID-19 patients are now transferred to an abandoned death row block at Mansfield Correctional Institute with barely any electricity. The sick people are forced to stay together in units without power (without air conditioning).

But the prison workers are exposed at high risk as well. When an inmate is tested positive and is isolated, they have to be transported to another area by prison workers. These workers have to be there and provide sick prisoners with medications and everything else.

The director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Annette Chambers-Smith, was also tested positive for the coronavirus. Chambers-Smith is one of more than nine hundred prison employees who are battling the virus. 

Union members with the Service Employees International Union District 1199 (they represent healthcare and social service workers in Ohio’s prisons) are asking for better access to personal protective equipment. They have this demand for months. 

Nobody is safe when it comes to the new coronavirus. But, when you work in a place where there is a cluster of the virus, you are directly exposed to it (and your family members as well).

Workplace injuries and illnesses are common.If you get injured while at work or have a diagnosis of a disease that occurred as a result of your workplace, you have the right to seek workers’ compensation. 

Allow our team of workers’ compensation attorneys to help you with any question you have. We are here for you; contact our office today.

Source: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2020/08/06/covid-cases-climb-worrying-families-ohios-prison-inmates/5547310002/