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allahassee, FL -- Last week it was that seven Florida Department of Corrections employees who work at seven different corrections facilities have tested positive for COVID-19.

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Members of the Florida Campaign for Criminal Justice Reform have previously on Florida officials to ensure that the health and safety of people in jails,听 prisons and immigrant detention centers in the Deep South are being protected from the virus, and release those people most at risk of suffering serious complications or death.听

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Multiple DOC employees testing positive increases the urgency of that call, and requires state officials to look into a serious reduction of the prison population immediately.听

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The following is a statement from Scott McCoy, senior policy counsel for 澳彩开奖 Action:

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鈥淚ncarcerated people are highly vulnerable to outbreaks of contagious illnesses such as COVID-19. They are housed in close quarters and can鈥檛 practice social distancing. We need to get people out of jails and prisons. We don鈥檛 need to have almost 100,000 people locked up at a cost of almost $3 billion a year. The best answer to public health and humanitarian concerns is to get people out.鈥�

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The following is a statement from Kara Gross, legislative director and senior policy counsel for the ACLU of Florida:听

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鈥淭he time to act is right now we cannot delay any longer. For the safety and health of all Floridians, we need to take action immediately to curb the spread of COVID-19 and prevent any mass outbreak in our prisons. Governor DeSantis must heed public health experts鈥� recommendations and safely release those who do not pose a danger to society and are most vulnerable to COVID-19 - particularly the elderly and sick. We need to reduce dangerous overcrowding in our criminal legal system now, before it鈥檚 too late.鈥�

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The following is a statement from Denise Rock, executive director of Florida Cares Charity Corp., dedicated to improving the lives of the incarcerated:

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鈥淭his is not about sentencing reform, this is about a humanitarian crisis.听 I don鈥檛 know if society realizes how many people over 60 are in our prisons, just stuck in there for a robbery or battery 35 years ago. They haven鈥檛 posed a threat to anyone in decades. Keeping them in prison right now actually poses a threat to their lives.听 We must let the elderly in our prisons return home, electronically monitor them if you鈥檇 like, just don鈥檛 leave them in听 prison where it is impossible to practice social distancing in prison.鈥�