Coronavirus Confirmed In Crowded Prisons

WAAY 31 pushed for answers from the state's Department of Corrections on what exactly it's doing to keep prisoners, guards, and deputies safe in light of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the prison system.

Correctional offices.

Now moving to the shoals, which has 72 cases and 4 deaths.

Today, we pushed the state's department of corrections on what exactly it's doing to keep prisoners, guards and deputies who come in contact with them safe.

We're still waiting on answers but we do know at least 8 staff members and 4 prisoners have coronavirus.

One of the prisoners died.

Waay 31's breken terry is live after learning local deputies are still making trips to prisons to drop inmates off.

The state admits alabama's prisons are overcrowded.

With coronavirus now sweeping its way through those prisons, keeping people safe is only getting harder in this video obtained by cnn it shows alabama prisoners explaining what the conditions are like in a pandemic.

Dude- they're not giving us hand sanitizer, they're not giving us proper soap, they're not giving us masks.

This videorecorded earlier this month-- also shows guards struggling to enforce rules inside alabama's prisons.

You can see this is cell phone video.

It's illegal for prisoners to have cell phones.

I asked the department of corrections about the video and phone but haven't gotten an answer.

In a release yesterday, the department did say it received a donation of more than 32 hundred bars of anti-bacterial soap and seven bottoles of hand sanitizer.

In other news releases, the department claimed it was quarantining sick inmates and working to provide face masks for inmates.

I asked for proof and didn't get an answer to that either.

I did get this answer when i asked the lauderdale county sheriff's office if it's still transporting criminals to these prisons.

Richy- as a matter of fact we took four yesterday.

I asked the department of corrections how it's introducing a new inmate into the population and if it's using tests or isolating new inmates for 14 days.

A spokesperson said they got our questions and are working on the requests but right now... no answers.

Live in flo bt waay31.