ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision has begun resuming visitation at maximum-security prisons after nearly five months of restricting access.
Visitation at all other state facilities will resume on Saturday.
Family and friends have been restricted from seeing their loved ones in-person since March 15 amid COVID-19 concerns.
Visitation was supposed to resume April 11 but that was pushed back several times.
The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision has said while visitation was restricted special arrangements were made to ensure the incarcerated could stay in touch with loved ones.
When visitation resumes at all facilities statewide Saturday, things will be different.
Visitors will be screened, asked to fill out a questionnaire before entering the facility, and visiting rooms will be re-configured to reduce the capacity by half according to NYSDOCCS guidance.
Masks will be required.
Visitors will also be allowed to engage in a short embrace at the beginning and at the end of a visit.
Individual instructions may vary from prison to prison but will be posted on their respective websites.
The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision oversees 44,000 incarcerated individuals, more than 35,000 on community supervision, and nearly 30,000 employees.
Since reporting began, five staff members, 17 incarcerated individuals, and four parolees have died from COVID-19.
Overall, 1,997 positive cases statewide have been linked to the department, 1,311 staff, 604 inmates, and 82 parolees; 542 of the individuals are now recovered and out of isolation according to state COVID-19 data.
