San Quentin Tally Moves Over 1K Infected

Hundreds of inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus at San Quentin State Prison
Photo credit Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Related

The COVID-19 outbreak inside San Quentin State Prison continues to worsen, while state corrections officials have shut down a plan to start transferring inmates out of the overcrowded prison.

The latest numbers from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation released Monday show 1,016 active cases of the disease behind the walls of San Quentin, of which a staggering 973 have been reported in the last 14 days.

The new numbers mean roughly one-third of the inmates at San Quentin are now known to be infected. Several employees have also tested positive.

In all, 2,589 inmates have been infected with the virus throughout the California prison system.

Gov @GavinNewsom says "we are working overtime" on plans to move inmates, release many early, but "Do you make a bad situation worse" by releasing someone who has "no place to go." #coronavirus #COVID19

— sovernnation (@SovernNation) June 29, 2020

Over the weekend, North Bay State Assemblyman Marc Levin told KCBS Radio that Receiver J. Clark Kelso, who heads California Correctional Health Care Services, is responsible for the transfer of prisoners from a facility in Chino and is therefore responsible for the outbreak.

"This is the biggest prison health screw up in state history," Levine said in calling for Kelso to step down.