I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8470 

To establish procedures related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID– 

19) in correctional facilities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 1, 2020 

Ms. BARRAGA ́N introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and 

Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish procedures related to the coronavirus disease 

2019 (COVID–19) in correctional facilities. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Correctional 

5 Facilities COVID–19 Response Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) CORRECTIONAL FACILITY.—The term ‘‘cor9 rectional facility’’ includes— 


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1 (A) Federal prisons, including all prison, 

2 correctional, and detention facilities run by the 

3 Bureau of Prisons; and 

4 (B) privately owned or privately operated 

5 prison, correctional, and detention facilities con6 tracted by Federal entities, including the Bu7 reau of Prisons, to house Federal incarcerated 

8 persons. 

9 (2) CORRECTIONAL FACILITY EMPLOYEE.—The 

10 term ‘‘correctional facility employee’’ means any in11 dividual employed at a correctional facility housing 

12 Federal incarcerated persons, including— 

13 (A) a Federal employee; 

14 (B) an employee of a privately owned or 

15 privately operated prison, correctional, or deten16 tion facility contracted by a Federal entity to 

17 house Federal incarcerated persons; and 

18 (C) an employee of a private company con19 tracted to provide goods and services at a cor20 rectional facility. 

21 (3) COVID–19 DIAGNOSTIC TEST.—The term 

22 ‘‘COVID–19 diagnostic test’’ means a test— 

23 (A) that is an in vitro diagnostic product 

24 (as defined in section 809.3 of title 21, Code of 

25 Federal Regulations, or any successor thereto) 


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1 for the detection of SARS–CoV–2 or the diag2 nosis of the virus that causes COVID–19; and 

3 (B) the administration of which— 

4 (i) is approved, cleared, or authorized 

5 under section 510(k), 513, 515, or 564 of 

6 the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 

7 (21 U.S.C. 360(k), 360c, 360e, 360bbb–3); 

8 (ii) the developer has requested, or in9 tends to request, emergency use authoriza10 tion under section 564 of the Federal 

11 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 

12 360bbb–3), unless and until the emergency 

13 use authorization request under such sec14 tion 564 has been denied or the developer 

15 of such test does not submit a request 

16 under such section within a reasonable 

17 timeframe; 

18 (iii) is developed in and authorized by 

19 a State that has notified the Secretary of 

20 Health and Human Services of its inten21 tion to review tests intended to diagnose 

22 COVID–19; or 

23 (iv) is another test that the Secretary 

24 determines appropriate in guidance. 


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1 (4) COVID–19 PANDEMIC.—The term ‘‘COVID– 

2 19 pandemic’’ means the period beginning on the 

3 date of enactment of this Act and ending on the 

4 date that is 1 year after the date on which the pub5 lic health emergency declaration under section 319 

6 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) 

7 with respect to COVID–19 terminates. 

8 (5) HIGH-RISK INCARCERATED PERSON.—The 

9 term ‘‘high-risk incarcerated person’’ means an indi10 vidual who meets the definition of ‘‘incarcerated per11 son’’ under this section who— 

12 (A) is 50 years old or older; 

13 (B) has chronic kidney disease; 

14 (C) has chronic obstructive pulmonary dis15 ease; 

16 (D) is immunocompromised; 

17 (E) has obesity; 

18 (F) has a heart condition, such as coro19 nary artery disease or cardiomyopathy; 

20 (G) has sickle cell disease; 

21 (H) has type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus; 

22 (I) has moderate to severe asthma; 

23 (J) has cerebrovascular disease; 

24 (K) has cystic fibrosis; 


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1 (L) has hypertension or high blood pres2 sure; 

3 (M) has a neurological condition such as 

4 dementia or Parkinson’s Disease; 

5 (N) has liver disease; 

6 (O) is pregnant; 

7 (P) has pulmonary fibrosis; 

8 (Q) has thalassemia; 

9 (R) is a smoker; 

10 (S) has a disability; or 

11 (T) meets any other characteristic identi12 fied by the Centers for Disease Control and 

13 Prevention as putting individuals at increased 

14 risk of developing severe illness from COVID– 

15 19. 

16 (6) INCARCERATED PERSON.—The term ‘‘incar17 cerated person’’ means an individual involuntarily 

18 confined or detained in a correctional facility. 

19 (7) SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF COVID–19.—The 

20 term ‘‘signs and symptoms of COVID–19’’ means 

21 fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or dif22 ficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, 

23 headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, 

24 congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, diar25 rhea, and any other medical condition or reaction 


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1 identified by the Centers for Disease Control and 

2 Prevention as being a physical reaction to the con3 traction of the severe acute respiratory syndrome 

4 coronavirus 2 (SARS–CoV–2). 

5 SEC. 3. MANDATED COVID–19 TESTING AT CORRECTIONAL 

6 FACILITIES. 

7 (a) TESTING OF INCARCERATED PERSONS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each correctional facility 

9 shall— 

10 (A) not later than 15 days after the date 

11 of enactment of this Act— 

12 (i) provide each incarcerated person in 

13 the facility with the option to take a 

14 COVID–19 diagnostic test, regardless of 

15 whether the incarcerated person exhibits 

16 symptoms of COVID–19, at no cost to the 

17 incarcerated person; 

18 (ii) provide each incarcerated person 

19 with the results of the diagnostic test, re20 gardless of the results, including an inter21 pretation of what the test results mean in 

22 the incarcerated person’s preferred lan23 guage; 

24 (iii) provide each incarcerated person 

25 who tests positive for COVID–19 with necVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 Oct 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8470.IH H8470

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1 essary medical care (as outlined in the Na2 tional Institutes of Health COVID–19 

3 Treatment Guidelines), including COVID– 

4 19 tests to monitor recovery if indicated by 

5 the Centers for Disease Control and Pre6 vention, and housing in a medical isolation 

7 unit under the care of medical profes8 sionals, at no cost to the incarcerated per9 son; 

10 (iv) place each asymptomatic incarcer11 ated person who is exposed to a positive 

12 case in quarantine until testing is com13 pleted consistent with Centers for Disease 

14 Control and Prevention guidance; and 

15 (v) place each symptomatic incarcer16 ated person into medical isolation while 

17 awaiting test results; and 

18 (B) during the period beginning not later 

19 than 45 days after the date of enactment of 

20 this Act and ending on the last day of the 

21 COVID–19 pandemic— 

22 (i) conduct weekly COVID–19 diag23 nostic testing of incarcerated persons in 

24 the facility in accordance with the guide25 lines developed under section 6, regardless 


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1 of whether such incarcerated persons ex2 hibit symptoms of COVID–19, at no cost 

3 to incarcerated persons; 

4 (ii) conduct COVID–19 diagnostic 

5 testing for any incarcerated person with 

6 COVID–19 symptoms, or for any incarcer7 ated person who is a close contact of a 

8 known COVID–19 case, in accordance with 

9 the guidelines developed under section 6; 

10 (iii) provide each incarcerated person 

11 with the results of the diagnostic tests, re12 gardless of the results, including an inter13 pretation of what the test results mean in 

14 the incarcerated person’s preferred lan15 guage; 

16 (iv) provide each incarcerated person 

17 who tests positive for COVID–19 with nec18 essary medical care (as outlined in the Na19 tional Institutes of Health COVID–19 

20 Treatment Guidelines), including COVID– 

21 19 tests to monitor recovery if indicated by 

22 the Centers for Disease Control and Pre23 vention, and housing in a medical isolation 

24 unit under the care of medical profes25 sionals, at no cost to the incarcerated perVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 Oct 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8470.IH H8470

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1 son, in accordance with the guidelines de2 veloped under section 6; 

3 (v) quarantine each incarcerated per4 son exposed to a positive COVID–19 case 

5 in accordance with the guidelines developed 

6 under section 6; and 

7 (vi) establish a procedure through 

8 which incarcerated people can opt out of 

9 COVID–19 testing, in accordance with the 

10 guidelines developed under section 6. 

11 (2) NEW ENTRANTS.—During the period begin12 ning not later than 45 days after the date of enact13 ment of this Act and ending on the last day of the 

14 COVID–19 pandemic, each correctional facility 

15 shall— 

16 (A) provide each incarcerated person newly 

17 admitted or transferred to the facility with an 

18 optional COVID–19 diagnostic test within 24 

19 hours of entering the facility, regardless of 

20 whether the incarcerated person exhibits symp21 toms of COVID–19, at no cost to the incarcer22 ated person; and 

23 (B) immediately quarantine each incarcer24 ated person newly admitted or transferred to 

25 the facility within 24 hours of entering the faVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 Oct 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8470.IH H8470

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1 cility, consistent with Centers for Disease Con2 trol and Prevention guidance, until the incar3 cerated person has been confirmed to be nega4 tive for COVID–19, in accordance with the 

5 guidelines developed under section 6. 

6 (b) TESTING OF CORRECTIONAL FACILITY EMPLOY7 EES.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each correctional facility 

9 shall— 

10 (A) not later than 15 days after the date 

11 of enactment of this Act— 

12 (i) provide each correctional facility 

13 employee with a required COVID–19 diag14 nostic test, regardless of whether the em15 ployee exhibits symptoms of COVID–19, at 

16 no cost to the employee; and 

17 (ii) provide each correctional facility 

18 employee who tests positive for COVID–19 

19 with unlimited paid administrative leave 

20 for the purpose of recovering from 

21 COVID–19, and no cost COVID–19 diag22 nostic testing for the purpose of moni23 toring recovery if indicated by the Centers 

24 for Disease Control and Prevention, until 


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1 the employee tests negative for COVID–19; 

2 and 

3 (B) during the period beginning not later 

4 than 45 days after the date of enactment of 

5 this Act and ending on the last day of the 

6 COVID–19 pandemic— 

7 (i) conduct required weekly COVID– 

8 19 diagnostic testing of each correctional 

9 facility employee in the facility, in accord10 ance with the guidelines developed under 

11 section 6, regardless of whether the em12 ployee exhibits symptoms of COVID–19, at 

13 no cost to the employee; 

14 (ii) provide each correctional facility 

15 employee who tests positive for COVID–19 

16 with unlimited paid leave for the purpose 

17 of recovering from COVID–19, and no cost 

18 COVID–19 diagnostic testing for the pur19 pose of monitoring recovery if indicated by 

20 the Centers for Disease Control and Pre21 vention, until the employee tests negative 

22 for COVID–19; and 

23 (iii) provide each correctional facility 

24 employee who is exposed to a positive 

25 COVID–19 case with guaranteed paid 


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1 leave to quarantine, consistent with Cen2 ters for Disease Control and Prevention 

3 guidance, or until the employee has been 

4 confirmed to be negative for COVID–19. 

5 (c) PRIVACY.—Any data collected, stored, received, or 

6 published under this section shall— 

7 (1) be so collected, stored, received, or pub8 lished in a manner that protects the privacy of indi9 viduals whose information is included in the data; 

10 (2) be deidentified or anonymized in a manner 

11 that protects the identity of all individuals whose in12 formation is included in the data; 

13 (3) comply with privacy protections provided 

14 under the regulations promulgated under section 

15 264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and Ac16 countability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1320d–2 note); 

17 and 

18 (4) be limited in use for the purpose of public 

19 health and be protected from all other internal use 

20 by any entity that collects, stores, or receives the 

21 data, including use of the data in determinations of 

22 eligibility (or continued eligibility) in health plans, 

23 and from any other inappropriate uses. 

24 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

25 authorized to be appropriated to relevant medical and pubVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 Oct 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8470.IH H8470

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1 lic officials such sums as are necessary to procure and ad2 minister the COVID–19 diagnostic tests and provide the 

3 medical care required in this section. 

4 SEC. 4. COVID–19 DATA COLLECTION AT CORRECTIONAL 

5 FACILITIES. 

6 (a) DATA COLLECTION.—During the period begin7 ning not later than 45 days after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act and ending on the last day of the COVID– 

9 19 pandemic, each correctional facility shall submit weekly 

10 reports to the Department of Justice and the Centers for 

11 Disease Control and Prevention, and the public health au12 thority of the State in which the facility is located on the 

13 following: 

14 (1) TESTING NUMBERS.—COVID–19 diagnostic 

15 testing, including cumulative and new (since the pre16 vious report) counts of— 

17 (A) the number of incarcerated persons 

18 tested for COVID–19, disaggregated by routine 

19 weekly testing, symptomatic testing, close con20 tact testing, recovery monitoring testing, and 

21 new entrant testing; 

22 (B) the number of correctional facility em23 ployees tested for COVID–19, disaggregated by 

24 routine weekly testing, symptomatic testing, 


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1 close contact testing, and recovery monitoring 

2 testing; and 

3 (C) the COVID–19 diagnostic test devel4 oper, test name, and type of test (molecular, 

5 antigen, or other) for each COVID–19 diag6 nostic test conducted. 

7 (2) TEST RESULTS.—COVID–19 diagnostic 

8 testing outcomes, including cumulative and new 

9 (since the previous report) counts of— 

10 (A) the number of confirmed active cases 

11 of COVID–19 among incarcerated persons, 

12 disaggregated by routine weekly testing, symp13 tomatic testing, close contact testing, recovery 

14 monitoring testing, and new entrant testing; 

15 (B) the number of confirmed negative 

16 cases of COVID–19 among incarcerated per17 sons, disaggregated by routine weekly testing, 

18 symptomatic testing, close contact testing, re19 covery monitoring testing, and new entrant 

20 testing; 

21 (C) the number of confirmed active cases 

22 of COVID–19 among correctional facility em23 ployees, disaggregated by routine weekly test24 ing, symptomatic testing, close contact testing, 

25 and recovery monitoring testing; 


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1 (D) the number of confirmed negative 

2 cases of COVID–19 among correctional facility 

3 employees, disaggregated by routine weekly 

4 testing, symptomatic testing, close contact test5 ing, and recovery monitoring testing; 

6 (E) the number of tests pending results, 

7 disaggregated by incarcerated persons and cor8 rectional facility employees; 

9 (F) the average time between testing an 

10 incarcerated person for COVID–19 and receiv11 ing the results of the test; and 

12 (G) the average time between testing a 

13 correctional facility employee for COVID–19 

14 and receiving the results of the test. 

15 (3) CASE OUTCOMES.—COVID–19 case out16 comes, including cumulative and new (since the pre17 vious report) counts of— 

18 (A) the number of incarcerated persons 

19 hospitalized for a case of COVID–19; 

20 (B) the number of incarcerated persons 

21 who have recovered from COVID–19; 

22 (C) the number of incarcerated persons 

23 currently in quarantine or medical isolation for 

24 COVID–19, respectively; 


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1 (D) the number of incarcerated persons 

2 who have completed quarantine or been released 

3 from medical isolation, respectively; 

4 (E) the number of incarcerated persons 

5 who have died from a confirmed or suspected 

6 case of COVID–19; 

7 (F) the number of correctional facility em8 ployees hospitalized for a case of COVID–19; 

9 (G) the number of correctional facility em10 ployees who have recovered from COVID–19; 

11 and 

12 (H) the number of correctional facility em13 ployees who have died from a case of COVID– 

14 19. 

15 (4) RELEASE OF INCARCERATED PERSONS.— 

16 Data related to the release of incarcerated persons, 

17 including individuals released to home confinement 

18 and pursuant to compassionate release, as a result 

19 of the COVID–19 public health emergency. 

20 (5) DAILY POPULATION.—Average daily popu21 lation, disaggregated by incarcerated persons and 

22 correctional facility employees. 

23 (b) DISAGGREGATION OF DATA.—The data described 

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1 entation, gender identity, age, race, ethnicity, disability, 

2 and geography (including county and State). 

3 (c) PUBLIC REPORTING.—The Secretary of Health 

4 and Human Services, acting through the Director of the 

5 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall make 

6 publicly available on the internet the most recent and his7 toric information reported weekly under subsection (a) in 

8 a machine-readable format. 

9 (d) COVID–19 SYMPTOM TRACKING AND MEDICAL

10 RECORD RETENTION.—During the period beginning not 

11 later than 45 days after the date of enactment of this Act 

12 and ending on the last day of the COVID–19 pandemic, 

13 each correctional facility shall systemically track and 

14 record of the signs and symptoms of COVID–19 among 

15 incarcerated persons and correctional center employees. 

16 As part of the tracking system, correctional facilities 

17 shall— 

18 (1) document and retain a record of each re19 quest from incarcerated persons for medical care, in20 cluding medical care for the signs and symptoms of 

21 COVID–19; 

22 (2) conduct weekly screenings, in conjunction 

23 with the testing requirements described in section 3, 

24 of incarcerated persons for signs and symptoms of 


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1 COVID–19 and maintain records of the results of 

2 such screenings for each incarcerated person; and 

3 (3) present for review, as requested at any time 

4 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services or 

5 the Attorney General, records collected under para6 graphs (1) and (2). 

7 (e) INCARCERATED PERSONS DATA.—The data de8 scribed in this section with respect to incarcerated persons 

9 who are serving a term of imprisonment and who are in10 fected with COVID–19 shall include, to the extent prac11 ticable, the term of imprisonment imposed on the incarcer12 ated persons, the time served, and the release date. 

13 (f) PRIVACY.—Any data collected, stored, received, or 

14 published under this section shall— 

15 (1) be so collected, stored, received, or pub16 lished in a manner that protects the privacy of indi17 viduals whose information is included in the data; 

18 (2) be de-identified or anonymized in a manner 

19 that protects the identity of all individuals whose in20 formation is included in the data; 

21 (3) comply with privacy protections provided 

22 under the regulations promulgated under section 

23 264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and Ac24 countability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1320d–2 note); 

25 and 


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1 (4) be limited in use for the purpose of public 

2 health and be protected from all other internal use 

3 by any entity that collects, stores, or receives the 

4 data, including use of such data in determinations of 

5 eligibility (or continued eligibility) in health plans, 

6 and from any other inappropriate uses. 

7 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

8 authorized to be appropriated to the Centers for Disease 

9 Control and Prevention such sums as are necessary to 

10 publicize the data as described in this section. 

11 SEC. 5. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND INVESTIGA12 TION DEPLOYMENT. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Correctional facilities shall report 

14 to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in15 stances when 3 or more incarcerated persons or correc16 tional facility employees present new COVID–19 cases 

17 within 72 hours of each other, within 24 hours of identi18 fying the third case. 

19 (b) DEPLOYMENT OF STAFF.—In such instances, the 

20 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shall deploy 

21 staff with experience in preventing the spread of infectious 

22 diseases in congregate settings to the facility for the pur23 pose of mitigating and preventing the spread of COVID– 

24 19 at the facility. 


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1 SEC. 6. UPDATED BUREAU OF PRISONS GUIDELINES ON 

2 HANDLING COVID–19 IN CORRECTIONAL FA3 CILITIES. 

4 (a) UPDATED COVID–19 GUIDELINES.—Not later 

5 than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

6 Department of Justice, acting through the Bureau of Pris7 ons and in consultation with the Centers for Disease Con8 trol and Prevention, shall release updated guidelines on 

9 the management of COVID–19 in correctional facilities. 

10 (b) EXPERT CONSULTATION.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—In developing the guidelines 

12 described in subsection (a), the Department of Jus13 tice shall consult with no fewer than 10 experts in 

14 public health and correctional facility management, 

15 which shall include— 

16 (A) academics with medical and public 

17 health expertise; 

18 (B) advocates for imprisoned populations; 

19 (C) public health officials; 

20 (D) tribal leaders or their representatives; 

21 and 

22 (E) labor representatives of correctional fa23 cility employees. 

24 (2) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.—Recommendations 

25 from and correspondence with individuals described 

26 in paragraph (1) shall be made publicly available. 


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1 (c) CONTENTS.—The guidelines described in sub2 section (a) shall, at a minimum, include— 

3 (1) requirements that correctional facilities con4 duct voluntary COVID–19 diagnostic tests on, and 

5 quarantine consistent with Centers for Disease Con6 trol and Prevention guidance all new incarcerated 

7 persons who enter the facility during the COVID–19 

8 pandemic, including incarcerated persons being held 

9 at the facility while in transit between other facili10 ties; 

11 (2) guidance on how facilities should conduct 

12 weekly testing of incarcerated persons and correc13 tional facility employees, including guidance on how 

14 to conduct pooled sample testing in lieu of individual 

15 testing, if appropriate, and guidance on how to iden16 tify the appropriate type of diagnostic test to use, 

17 consistent with the most up-to-date public health in18 formation and guidance on preventing the spread of 

19 COVID–19; 

20 (3) guidance on how correctional facilities 

21 should handle incarcerated persons who refuse to re22 ceive COVID–19 tests, such as through imple23 menting time-based or symptom-based isolation and 

24 quarantine strategies; 


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1 (4) requirements that correctional facilities, 

2 once a single case of COVID–19 is detected within 

3 the facility, screen every incarcerated person and 

4 correctional facility employee for signs and symp5 toms of COVID–19 within 24 hours; 

6 (5) guidance for correctional facilities on max7 imum occupational capacity, social distancing best 

8 practices, and how to reduce the incarcerated person 

9 population within the facility, including updated 

10 guidance on the proactive release of incarcerated 

11 persons, with special consideration given to high-risk 

12 incarcerated persons; 

13 (6) guidance for correctional facilities on how to 

14 establish and implement cohorting strategies to min15 imize the spread of COVID–19 in facilities, with 

16 special consideration given to the cohorting of high17 risk incarcerated persons; 

18 (7) guidance for correctional facilities on how to 

19 establish and implement contact tracing efforts to 

20 identify, track, and prevent the spread of COVID– 

21 19 among the contacts of incarcerated persons and 

22 correctional facility employees who test positive for 

23 COVID–19; 

24 (8) guidance for correctional facilities on how 

25 to— 


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1 (A) humanely and effectively quarantine 

2 incarcerated persons exposed to COVID–19 and 

3 humanely and effectively medically isolate and 

4 provide medical care to incarcerated persons 

5 who contract COVID–19, including a prohibi6 tion on the use of punitive solitary confinement 

7 and other punitive measures as a means of 

8 treating and medically isolating incarcerated 

9 persons, with special consideration given to the 

10 quarantining and medical isolation and treat11 ment of high-risk incarcerated persons; 

12 (B) authorize the provision of materials, 

13 such as books, television shows, magazines, and 

14 movies to, increase recreation hours for, and ex15 pand programming and phone and email com16 munication privileges for incarcerated persons 

17 in medical isolation to minimize the similarity 

18 of punitive solitary confinement and other puni19 tive measures with medical quarantine; and 

20 (C) confirm that incarcerated persons and 

21 correctional facility employees who have con22 tracted COVID–19 have recovered for the pur23 pose of releasing them from medical isolation; 


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1 (9) guidance for correctional facilities on the 

2 proper cleaning and disinfecting of the facility to 

3 prevent the spread of COVID–19; 

4 (10) guidance for correctional facilities on prop5 er ventilation and air filtration strategies to prevent 

6 the spread of COVID–19; 

7 (11) guidance on the proper daily, weekly, and 

8 monthly allowance for incarcerated persons of per9 sonal protective equipment and face coverings, hand 

10 sanitizer, soap, cleaning items, and other materials 

11 that could reduce the spread of COVID–19 in facili12 ties, which shall be provided to incarcerated persons 

13 at no cost, including information on how to update 

14 existing guidelines within facilities on the limitation 

15 of incarcerated persons’ access to such materials; 

16 (12) guidance for correctional facilities on how 

17 to educate incarcerated persons, and the medical fa18 cilities treating those incarcerated persons for 

19 COVID–19, on the healthcare rights of the incarcer20 ated persons under Federal and State law and the 

21 minimum ethical standards of care, including the 

22 use of medical isolation that does not include soli23 tary confinement; 

24 (13) recommendations for correctional facilities 

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1 ated persons and friends and family outside of the 

2 facility during the COVID–19 pandemic, including 

3 guidance on how to suspend fees for phone calls and 

4 electronic communications and expand visitation (in5 cluding virtual visitation) options; 

6 (14) requirements that correctional facilities 

7 communicate, not less frequently than biweekly, and 

8 in such a manner that permits for feedback from in9 carcerated persons, to incarcerated persons the steps 

10 being taken to address the COVID–19 pandemic in 

11 the facility; and 

12 (15) guidance for correctional facilities on how 

13 to connect incarcerated persons released from con14 finement as a result of the COVID–19 pandemic 

15 with post-release resources, such as health insur16 ance, primary care providers, other health profes17 sionals, and quarantine facilities, with sensitivity to 

18 the immigration status of incarcerated persons. 

19 SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

20 Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 

21 of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress 

22 a report on prevention, mitigation, and control activities 

23 relating to the spread of COVID–19 in prisons conducted 

24 by the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons, 


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1 disaggregated by facility when applicable, that includes in2 formation on— 

3 (1) efforts of correctional facilities to comply 

4 with the Interim Guidance on Management of 

5 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19) in Correc6 tional and Detention Facilities issued by the Centers 

7 for Disease Control and Prevention (referred to in 

8 this section as the ‘‘Interim Guidelines’’), includ9 ing— 

10 (A) information on steps that have been 

11 and continue to be taken with respect to oper12 ational preparedness, including— 

13 (i) with respect to communication and 

14 coordination— 

15 (I) developing information shar16 ing systems with partners; 

17 (II) reviewing and revising for 

18 COVID–19 existing influenza, all-haz19 ards, and disaster plans; 

20 (III) coordinating with local law 

21 enforcement and court officials as 

22 necessary; and 

23 (IV) encouraging all persons in 

24 the facility, including through posting 


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1 signs, to take action to protect them2 selves from COVID–19; 

3 (ii) with respect to personnel prac4 tices— 

5 (I) reviewing sick leave policies of 

6 each employer that operates within 

7 the facility; 

8 (II) identifying duties that can be 

9 performed remotely; 

10 (III) planning for staff absences; 

11 (IV) offering revised duties to 

12 staff at increased risk for severe ill13 ness from COVID–19; 

14 (V) making plans to change staff 

15 duty assignments to prevent unneces16 sary movement between housing units 

17 during a COVID–19 outbreak; and 

18 (VI) offering the seasonal influ19 enza vaccines to all incarcerated per20 sons and correctional facility staff; 

21 and 

22 (iii) with respect to operations, sup23 plies, and personal protective equipment 

24 (referred to in this clause as ‘‘PPE’’) prep25 arations— 


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1 (I) ensuring that sufficient stocks 

2 of hygiene supplies, cleaning supplies, 

3 PPE, and medical supplies (consistent 

4 with the healthcare capabilities of the 

5 facility) are on hand and available, 

6 and having a plan in place to restock 

7 as needed; 

8 (II) making contingency plans for 

9 possible PPE shortages during the 

10 COVID–19 pandemic; 

11 (III) relaxing restrictions on al12 lowing alcohol-based hand sanitizer; 

13 (IV) providing a no-cost supply 

14 of soap to incarcerated persons suffi15 cient to allow frequent hand washing; 

16 (V) establishing a respiratory 

17 protection program, if not already in 

18 place; 

19 (VI) ensuring that correctional 

20 facility staff and incarcerated persons 

21 are trained to correctly don, doff, and 

22 dispose of PPE that they will need to 

23 use within the scope of their respon24 sibilities; and 


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1 (VII) setting up designated PPE 

2 donning and doffing areas outside all 

3 spaces where PPE will be used; 

4 (B) information on steps that have been 

5 and continue to be taken with respect to pre6 vention, including— 

7 (i) to prevent COVID–19 cases among 

8 incarcerated persons— 

9 (I) implementing social 

10 distancing strategies to increase the 

11 physical space between incarcerated 

12 persons, which, to the extent prac13 ticable, shall be 6 feet between all in14 dividuals, regardless of symptoms; 

15 (II) minimizing the mixing of in16 dividuals from different housing units; 

17 and 

18 (III) providing up-to-date infor19 mation about COVID–19 to incarcer20 ated persons; 

21 (ii) to prevent COVID–19 cases 

22 among correctional facility staff— 

23 (I) reminding staff to stay at 

24 home if they are sick; 


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1 (II) performing verbal screening 

2 and temperature checks for all staff 

3 daily upon entry; and 

4 (III) providing up-to-date infor5 mation about COVID–19 to staff, in6 cluding information about sick leave 

7 policies; and 

8 (iii) to prevent COVID–19 cases 

9 among visitors— 

10 (I) communicating with potential 

11 visitors to discourage contact visits; 

12 (II) conducting verbal screenings 

13 and temperature checks for visitors, 

14 and requiring face coverings; and 

15 (III) promoting non-contact visits 

16 and providing access to free virtual 

17 visitation options; 

18 (C) information on steps that have been 

19 and continue to be taken with respect to 

20 COVID–19 case management, including— 

21 (i) with respect to infection control, 

22 ensuring proper infection control protocols 

23 are in place; 

24 (ii) with respect to medical isolation— 


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1 (I) placing incarcerated individ2 uals with confirmed or suspected 

3 cases of COVID–19 in medical isola4 tion; 

5 (II) ensuring that medical isola6 tion for COVID–19 is distinct from 

7 punitive solitary confinement; 

8 (III) keeping to an absolute min9 imum the movement outside the med10 ical isolation space of incarcerated in11 dividuals with confirmed or suspected 

12 cases of COVID–19; and 

13 (IV) safely cohorting, if nec14 essary, COVID–19-infected incarcer15 ated individuals; and 

16 (iii) with respect to provision of 

17 care— 

18 (I) ensuring that incarcerated 

19 persons receive medical evaluation and 

20 treatment at the first signs of 

21 COVID–19 symptoms, including in 

22 cases where a facility is not able to 

23 provide such evaluation and treatment 

24 onsite; 


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1 (II) providing incarcerated indi2 viduals with onsite healthcare; and 

3 (III) providing incarcerated indi4 viduals with healthcare services in the 

5 community, as necessary; and 

6 (D) all other aspects of the Interim Guid7 ance; 

8 (2) the process for determining which incarcer9 ated persons qualify for home confinement, including 

10 listing every factor that is taken into consideration, 

11 and how the factors are weighed to determine quali12 fication, including— 

13 (A) how many incarcerated persons have 

14 been reviewed for home confinement; 

15 (B) how many incarcerated persons have 

16 qualified for and have been moved into home 

17 confinement, and the average length of time be18 tween review, approval, and transfer; 

19 (C) how the prior convictions of an incar20 cerated person are used to determine who quali21 fies for home confinement, including whether 

22 certain convictions are weighed more heavily 

23 than others, and whether a prior conviction re24 gardless of severity automatically bars an incarVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 Oct 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8470.IH H8470

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1 cerated person from qualifying for home con2 finement; and 

3 (D) demographic data of the incarcerated 

4 persons who are considered for home confine5 ment and of the incarcerated persons who are 

6 ultimately chosen for home confinement, 

7 disaggregated by age, race, gender, ethnicity, 

8 level of offense, how much time remains on 

9 their sentence, and whether the individual is 

10 high risk for COVID–19; 

11 (3) the process for determining which incarcer12 ated persons qualify for compassionate release, in13 cluding listing every factor that is taken into consid14 eration, and how the factors are weighed to deter15 mine qualification, including— 

16 (A) how many incarcerated persons have 

17 been reviewed for compassionate release; 

18 (B) how many incarcerated persons have 

19 qualified for compassionate release, 

20 disaggregated by compassionate releases ap21 proved by the Bureau of Prisons and compas22 sionate releases granted by courts, and the av23 erage length of time between review, approval, 

24 and release; 


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1 (C) how the prior convictions of an incar2 cerated person are used to determine who quali3 fies for compassionate release, including wheth4 er certain convictions are weighed more heavily 

5 than others, and whether a prior conviction re6 gardless of severity automatically bars an incar7 cerated person from qualifying for compas8 sionate release; and 

9 (D) demographic data of the incarcerated 

10 persons who are considered for compassionate 

11 release and of the incarcerated persons who are 

12 ultimately chosen for compassionate release, 

13 disaggregated by age, race, gender, ethnicity, 

14 level of offense, and how much time remains on 

15 their sentence; 

16 (4) the process of providing information to fam17 ilies and emergency contacts of incarcerated persons 

18 who have tested positive for COVID–19, including 

19 how long it takes on average for families and emer20 gency contacts to be notified after initial diagnosis, 

21 and how often facilities follow up with families and 

22 emergency contacts to update them on the health 

23 condition of the incarcerated person; 

24 (5) resource limitations, if any, that have inhib25 ited the ability of the Department of Justice and 


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1 Bureau of Prisons to fully implement the Centers 

2 for Disease Control and Prevention’s Interim Guide3 lines; and 

4 (6) what actions are being taken to modernize 

5 the electronic health records systems of the Bureau 

6 of Prisons. 

Æ 


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