Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy say they are concerned about the conditions inside the Danbury FCI Prison, where there has been a COVID-19 outbreak.

The senators were denied access to the women's area Wednesday and had to fight to see the men's section.

Murphy says it's unacceptable that the testing turnaround time for inmates is two to three days.

Nearly 40% of inmates are either in isolation or quarantine. The facility is also chronically understaffed.

"The reason for our being here was to see how the Bureau of Prisons is addressing the COVID problem, and we learned, Sen. Murphy is absolutely right, that the current regime of testing is disgraceful - it's a joke," said Blumenthal.

After the visit, Murphy said funding for increasing staff could be addressed in the next budget and that he wants to look into getting rapid tests for prisons.

Blumenthal wants the Judiciary Committee to investigate the staff leveling at prisons nationwide.