COVID-19 cases continue to multiply at the Cook County Jail in Chicago, with individuals held in the jail’s medical unit especially vulnerable to contagion. In newly published phone interviews recorded by the South Side Weekly newspaper, six prisoners described worsening health and sanitary conditions and a loss of access to their routine medical care.

“Mike”: “It’s hard to stay away from each other, because we’re in a dorm and there’s 39 people. And, you know, there’s a lot of guys coughing and got a fever. And it’s like you’ve got to be damn near dying for them to give medical attention.”