Nearly 1,000 inmates will be removed from San Quentin prison after its infection rate has gotten so bad it's been dubbed 'the Chernobyl of COVID'

san quentin
san quentin

REUTERS/Stephen Lam

  • On Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a COVID-19 outbreak in San Quentin State Prison was his "top focus and priority," and that nearly 1,000 inmates would be released early or relocated.

  • The announcement came after more than one third of the inmates had been confirmed having COVID-19.

  • Last week, University of California San Francisco infectious disease specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong told NBC Bay Area the prison had become "the Chernobyl of COVID."

  • San Quentin's coronavirus outbreak stemmed from a transfer of 121 highly vulnerable inmates from the California Institution for Men in Chino on May 30.

  • Over three weeks, the prison went from having no cases to 499 confirmed cases.
    California Sen. Mike McGuire called the error a "failure of leadership" and said the crisis had been "completely avoidable."

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San Quentin State Prison's coronavirus situation is so volatile it's been labeled "the Chernobyl of COVID," and Californian Gov. Gavin Newsom said he is looking into who can leave as soon as possible.

On Monday, Newsom said that the outbreak in California's oldest correctional facility was his "top focus and priority," and nearly 1,000 inmates will be released early or relocated, according to The Washington Post.

San Quentin is California's only prison with inmates on death row.

Since June 24, at least five of the inmates on death row have died from COVID-19, and by the end of June about a third of the prison's inmates — more than 1,300 inmates — were infected.

On July 2, University of California San Francisco infectious disease specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong told NBC Bay Area the prison had become "the Chernobyl of COVID."

"That tower is burning," he said, "and it's really unsafe to get in their right now."

San Quentin's coronavirus situation stemmed from a transfer of 121 inmates, who were considered highly vulnerable to COVID-19, from the California Institution for Men in Chino, on May 30, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Over three weeks, the prison went from having no cases to 499 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Officials said that the transferred inmates had not been properly tested, according to The Post.

California Sen. Mike McGuire called the error a "failure of leadership" and said the crisis had been "completely avoidable," according to the Associated Press.

At Monday's press conference Newsom admitted that the prisoners should not have been transferred.

But he said his staff had been on the problem for the past three weeks, and he himself was going through prisoner files to work out who could be released or transferred while ensuring the released prisoners did not end up living on the streets.

Prisons are hot spots for the coronavirus due to a lack of space, an inability to practice social distancing, and poor infrastructure, according to The Guardian.

Across California, more than 2,600 inmates had active coronavirus cases and 2,200 had recovered, according to AP.

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