PITTSBURGH – The Allegheny County Jail has agreed to begin administering COVID-19 tests to everyone admitted to the jail before they are moved into general population housing in response to demands from lawyers representing incarcerated persons in a class action lawsuit challenging the jail’s failure to protect them from COVID-19.

As a result of that agreement, lawyers with Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP), Abolitionist Law Center (ALC), American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania (ACLU-PA), and the law firm Dechert LLP have asked a federal court in Pittsburgh to amend a consent order entered in the case in May to require intake testing at the jail.

"We are pleased that the jail will soon begin testing all people for COVID-19 at admission,” said Jaclyn Kurin, staff attorney at Abolitionist Law Center. “ACJ’s new intake testing policy is an essential step in preventing newly admitted individuals who are asymptomatic from introducing the coronavirus to the jail’s general population.”

More than 40% of the general population infected with the coronavirus are asymptomatic; they are responsible for 50% of the virus’s transmission. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends intake testing in correctional facilities, like ACJ, where newly admitted individuals who are asymptomatic might unknowingly bring the virus into the jail.

That recommendation is bolstered by Dr. William Weber, MD, MPH, who worked on the national level to guide care within the COVID-19 pandemic and examined the conditions for viral spread at ACJ and in the community.

“The positivity rate for the coronavirus in state and federal prisons is more than four times that in the non-incarcerated population,” said Dr. Weber. “When adjusting for age and ethnicity, incarcerated individuals are twice as likely to die due to complications from COVID-19.”

While it appears ACJ officials have taken steps to improve intake testing, the organizations representing the plaintiffs continue to insist that contact tracing be performed whenever an incarcerated person has been in close proximity to jail staff who have tested positive or are on quarantine.

“We are relieved that the jail has agreed to this crucial step, and we look forward to working with them on the next imperative, ensuring that vaccines and proper education are provided to everyone at the jail as soon as possible,” said Alexandra Morgan-Kurtz, managing attorney for the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project. “We will continue to monitor the Jail’s compliance with COVID-19 mitigation guidelines.”

Read the Court’s Order and learn more here.