The 21st Show

Documenting the COVID-19 Outbreak at the Cook County Jail

 
Nurses and faith leaders participate in a protest outside the Cook County Jail in Chicago in this file photo from April 10, 2020.

Nurses and faith leaders participate in a protest outside the Cook County Jail in Chicago in this file photo from April 10, 2020. Nam Y. Huh/AP

One of America’s biggest COVID-19 outbreaks is afflicting people who work and are detained at the Cook County Jail.

Shannon Heffernan, a reporter on the Criminal Justice Desk at Chicago NPR station WBEZ-FM, has been documenting the crisis.

Her story was produced in partnership with the ProPublica Local Reporting Network