Coronavirus: San Quentin prison facing 'volcano' of infections, disease expert warns

'Crowded prisons and jails serve as incubators of disease'

Two women hold up a banner before the start of a news conference urging California Gov Gavin Newsom to release prisoners (AP)

San Quentin State Prison is facing a “volcano” of coronavirus infections, an expert has warned, as the institution struggles to contain one of the worst outbreaks in the state and the country.

The prison outbreak, which began in June and has escalated rapidly, started after a prison in Chino, California, transferred about 100 of its inmates to San Quentin amidst rising infections to relieve overcrowding, KRON reported.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) reports at least 383 active cases of the virus amidst a population of around 3300 inmates. At the peak of the outbreak, the prison reported 1636 active cases.

Since the outbreak began there have been at least 2,168 confirmed infections and at least 19 inmates have died in the prison from the virus, according to the CDCR.

Infectious disease physician Peter Chin Hong described the situation as a “volcano erupting in our neighborhood,” KRON reported.

State authorities recently announced they would release up to 8,000 state prisoners in an attempt to quell the spread of the disease, but health workers and experts have said that more needs to be done to stop “preventable” deaths.

More than 700 healthcare workers signed an open letter and petition to California governor Gavin Newsom and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation this week saying that the early release measure is “woefully inefficient”.

“This is a public health crisis — one that impacts not only those Californians who are currently experiencing incarceration, but all of us”, the letter reads.

“Crowded prisons and jails serve as incubators of disease. The rampant spread within prisons causes preventable morbidity and mortality, not only for residents, but for staff, their families, and the surrounding community.”

The letter urges officials “to begin the process of reducing the overall prison population to below 50 per cent of current capacity, to halt all transfers between correctional facilities, and to follow public health guidance.”

Dr Chin Hong has also said that steps need to be taken to prevent the same mistakes that led to the San Quentin outbreak from happening again.

State officials need to “really limit transfers between prisons because that’s how we got to the San Quentin volcano,” Dr Chin Hong said.

“It was because of a transfer that came, bringing Covid from Southern California to Northern California.”

Four inmates died in the prison over the weekend from Covid-19 complications and ten men on San Quentin’s Death Row have died from the virus, the local broadcaster reported.

The CDCR has confirmed a total of almost 8,000 infections and 47 deaths across all its institutions as of Thursday.