Several staff members carrying out executions of death row inmates contracted the coronavirus, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
Eight people who took part in the execution of convicted murderer Orlando Hall on Nov. 19 in Terre Haute, Indiana, tested positive for the virus. Five of them will take part in other executions this week as the Trump administration scrambles to carry out death sentences in the home stretch of his presidency, according to the Associated Press.
Six members of the team opted to be tested for the virus before they left Indiana, but all tested negative, according to the Bureau of Prisons. Six others tested positive within a week, and two more members of the team tested positive shortly afterward.
The BOP will bring back five of those same employees to carry out two executions scheduled this week, though it’s unclear whether they are still infectious. The agency suggested the move adheres with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines because rules allow the agency to interact with people as long as it’s been over 10 days since they tested positive.
However, the outbreak has led to criticism about the need to monitor the spread of the virus better within prisons and the incarcerated population.
“The fact that at least 20% of the BOP’s execution team has contacted COVID-19 following Orlando Hall’s execution speaks volumes — particularly given the fact that we don’t know how many team members opted in to be tested,” said Cassandra Stubbs, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Capital Punishment Project.
The BOP is planning to carry out two executions this week, and three others have been scheduled in the days before the expected Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
Attorney General William Barr said he’s likely to schedule more executions before he exits the Justice Department. A spokesman for Biden said the Democrat opposes the death penalty and will work to end its use when he takes office.
To carry out an execution, about 100 people are brought into a prison complex, including the execution team, additional personnel for security, witnesses, and others.
Prisons have had some of the largest outbreaks of the virus, prompting advocates to push to include inmates as a high-priority population to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The CDC advisory committee lists correctional officers and others who work in jails and prisons in that group, putting them in good standing to receive the first round of immunizations.
The United States holds 2.3 million people in jails, prisons, and detention centers, according to the New York Times. About 500,000 people among that figure have not been convicted of a crime and are still awaiting trial. The figure also includes 44,000 juveniles and 42,000 in immigration detention centers.
