Louisiana Prisons Will Finally Allow ‘Contact’ Visits Once Again

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It might be easy to think that we've already made it through the pandemic.  We're starting to see fewer and fewer masks, festivals are back, and we're not seeing the terrifying COVID infection numbers plastered on the news everyday - so it certainly seems like we are exiting the blanket forts we've been hiding under since March 11th, 2020 (the date the World Health Organization officially declared the COVID-19 issue a "pandemic").  While that's good, and I'm totally ready for all of this to be over - some places in Louisiana are moving a little slower in regards to their COVID restrictions.

According to a report from the New Canaan Advertiser, state-run prisons in Louisiana are just now allowing "contact" visitations with prisoners to resume.  However, the move to return to pre-COVID protocols isn't coming fast.  The first to allow these kinds of visits is the famed Dixon Correctional Institute in Jackson, Louisiana - which actually resumed those visitations today (Friday 3-18).  Since February, visitors have been separated from the inmates they were visiting by a thick piece of plexiglass.

Saturday (3-19) will see the return of "contact" visitation privileges to 3 more facilities (including the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola), and Monday will add an additional 3 to the list.  The rule banning "contact" visitations was put in place more than a year ago on March 12th of 2020.

As long as prisoners and visitors follow the rules, they will once again be able to sit together and even hug each other during these scheduled visits.  Both the inmates and their guests will need to be vaccinated (and have the cards to prove it), and all involved parties will be tested for COVID-19 prior to the visit.  Masks are recommended, but not required.