What we know about FDC Philly’s latest COVID outbreak
Philadelphia’s federal detention center locked down on Monday, December 27 due to yet another outbreak of COVID-19 throughout the facility. Here is what we know as of Sunday, January 16:
Incarcerated people were locked into their cells on Monday, December 27. All visitation was halted indefinitely. Legal visits were scheduled to resume as of January 14.
Lore got out of quarantine on January 14. She reported feeling well and asymptomatic throughout. She tested negative for COVID-19 twice.
Lore and the few other women who tested negative for COVID-19 were moved to an abandoned unit in the building some time between January 3rd and 7th. They were allowed 30 minutes outside of their cells per day to shower or make phone calls. She could not speak to her lawyers privately.
The vast majority of women on Lore’s unit (she estimated ~80%) tested positive for COVID-19 and remained on their normal floor, which became a makeshift COVID isolation ward. The FDC had routinely punished symptomatic women with confinement in the special housing unit (SHU), which quickly overflowed its capacity.
We do not know the extent of the infections outside of the women’s unit, nor the number of women hospitalized or worse. Some mens’ floors in the building remain locked down as of January 16.
Thanks to your timely help, Lore was relatively prepared to weather this makeshift solitary confinement period. (And it’s never too late to contribute!)
Your letters and photos were waiting for Lore when she came out of quarantine! They buoy her soul during these especially harsh storms, so please never strop sharing 💕
FDC Philadelphia holds pre-trial detainees primarily, which means that people like Lore suffered their second or third complete lockdown and information blackout in a federal prison without ever being tried for any alleged crimes.
You can read a summary of Lore’s prior experience in lockdown with COVID-19 while we seek and share more information. The Bureau of Prisons and FDC Philadelphia in particular will not protect incarcerated people from COVID-19 infection nor treat their illnesses, so it’s up to us to hold Lore in loving light amid all this hateful system’s darkness ☮️