Los Angeles, CA--According to Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva 10% of Los Angeles prison population has been released as officials try to curb a coronavirus outbreak inside L.A County jails. Villanueva announced the department was actively working to find low level inmates with less than 30 days left of their sentence which has resulted in the release of 1,7000 inmates.
Correction officials in Los Angeles announced this week that a prisoner has tested positive for the virus in a L.A County jail.
The news comes as more than 50 prisoners were said to have tested positive for the coronavirus at Rikers Island Prison in New York. Mayor Bill De Blasio announced today that 300 non violent offenders will be released amid the pandemic.
Prions are among the most vulnerable populations caught in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. Prisoners are already living in cramped living spaces, making social distancing extremely difficult.
In addition, sanitation conditions as well as the lack of proper nutrition that prisoners are forced to live with would only help the spread of the coronavirus.
Read More: Coronavirus Spreads Among Rikers Inmates, Staff
The Wall Street Journal Reports:
“The new coronavirus is spreading quickly through the Rikers Island jail complex in New York City, killing one Department of Correction employee and infecting dozens of inmates and staff who go in and out of the facility, said jail and health-care officials,” (WSJ)
Read More: First inmate in California’s prison system tests positive for coronavirus
