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San Quentin: outcry after Covid-19 cases at California prison triple in two weeks
Source: The Guardian
San Quentin: outcry after Covid-19 cases at California prison triple in two weeks
Families and attorneys demand urgent action to stop spread among prisoners and correctional officers as cases rise to 46
Abené Clayton
Published on Fri 19 Jun 2020 00.23 BST
The number of coronavirus cases in California’s San Quentin state prison has tripled within the last two weeks, prompting advocates, families and attorneys to demand urgent action to fast track the release of prisoners and curb the spread among correctional officers.
San Quentin, California’s oldest prison and home to the state’s only death row for male prisoners, reported its first batch of 15 positive cases on 3 June. Since then, that number has risen to 46.
Organizers are pointing to the 30 May transfer of more than 100 incarcerated people from the California Institution for Men (CIM) in Chino as a catalyst for the spread of Covid-19 in the prison.
“While the individuals who were transferred are being quarantined, San Quentin staff and Corrections Officers (COs) are actively spreading the virus by not relegating themselves to one part of the prison,” organizers with #StopSanQuentinOutbreak wrote on behalf of incarcerated people in the prison.
In a statement, the CDCR spokesperson Dana Simas says that while some inmates from CIM tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival to San Quentin, these individuals were “not exposed to the general population, and are currently isolated”. CDCR has also suspended all transfers from CIM.
-snip-
Families and attorneys demand urgent action to stop spread among prisoners and correctional officers as cases rise to 46
Abené Clayton
Published on Fri 19 Jun 2020 00.23 BST
The number of coronavirus cases in California’s San Quentin state prison has tripled within the last two weeks, prompting advocates, families and attorneys to demand urgent action to fast track the release of prisoners and curb the spread among correctional officers.
San Quentin, California’s oldest prison and home to the state’s only death row for male prisoners, reported its first batch of 15 positive cases on 3 June. Since then, that number has risen to 46.
Organizers are pointing to the 30 May transfer of more than 100 incarcerated people from the California Institution for Men (CIM) in Chino as a catalyst for the spread of Covid-19 in the prison.
“While the individuals who were transferred are being quarantined, San Quentin staff and Corrections Officers (COs) are actively spreading the virus by not relegating themselves to one part of the prison,” organizers with #StopSanQuentinOutbreak wrote on behalf of incarcerated people in the prison.
In a statement, the CDCR spokesperson Dana Simas says that while some inmates from CIM tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival to San Quentin, these individuals were “not exposed to the general population, and are currently isolated”. CDCR has also suspended all transfers from CIM.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/18/san-quentin-covid-19-cases-california-prison