US prison deaths soared by 77% during height of Covid-19 crisis, study finds

People hold up a banner while listening to a news conference outside the San Quentin state prison in San Quentin, California, in July 2020. Photograph: Eric Risberg/AP

A study of US prison deaths at the height of the Covid-19 crisis in 2020 has found that mortality rates soared by 77% relative to 2019, or more than three times the increase in the general population.

The study, published by Science Advances last week, is the most comprehensive analysis of in-custody deaths since 2020. The report found that “Covid-19 was the primary driver for increases in mortality due to natural causes; some states also experienced substantial increases due to unnatural causes.”