Edward McKinley is reporting for the Times Union two people incarcerated at Coxsackie Correctional Facility have died from COVID-19. The deaths occurred over the weekend, bringing the coronavirus death toll in state prisons to six during the last three weeks. Prison populations are at increased risk for the spread of COVID-19 and the death rate in New York has surpassed the national average. Before the current surge, the state death rate was 46-per-100,000 people; according to researchers, while the overall death rate for federal and state prisons is lower, with 39 deaths per 100,000 people. Advocates described the situation as a worsening nightmare that is going unaddressed by the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and New York's political leaders, including Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. “We can’t really depend on the Department of Corrections to deal with this thing as a health crisis, we just can’t. And unfortunately we can’t depend on the governor to intervene with his executive clemency powers, so where do we go to in advocating for incarcerated people’s lives and healths?” said Jose Saldaña, director of Release Aging People from Prison, or RAPP. RAPP, along with other advocacy organizations are calling for the passage of three bills when the state Legislature convenes in the coming weeks: the Elder Parole bill, Fair and Timely Parole Act, and the HALT Solitary Confinement Act. In response, Department of Corrections and Community Supervision spokesman Thomas Mailey said in an email the full prison population was tested in November, a new program recently began for random testing of individuals and rapid testing is available for staff in hotspot areas. And intake at state prisons from county jails was suspended last month due to surging cases, Mailey said. He also touted findings from The Marshall Project that the state's prison infection rate was lower than most other states. Read the full story in the Times Union.