A nonprofit helped women in two state prisons connect with strangers during the coronavirus pandemic. The women recounted their struggles and offered advice.

The Department of Corrections is drawing heavy criticism for its steep rise in COVID-19 cases. Most of the 3,175 total cases recorded as of Sept. 23. were first reported in the past month.

An Oklahoma prisoner who tested positive for COVID-19 died in a hospital on Saturday. If she had lived, the woman’s earliest possible release would have come in May, 2021.