Four inmates at the men’s state prison in Chino died this week due to complications related to the new coronavirus, officials said.
The inmates, who were incarcerated at the California Institution for Men, died Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at outside hospitals, according to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Among 870 inmates at the Chino men’s prison who have been tested for COVID-19, 376 inmates tested positive for the disease. The Chino men’s prison has more than twice the number of infected inmates and testing as any other California prison and also remains as the only state prison to have reported deaths among its population. The first death at the prison was reported on April 19.
In all, five people from the prison have died from the disease. As of Saturday, the prison had 304 inmates actively positive for COVID-19, prison officials said.
Data provided by prison officials show that infection rates inside California prisons have outpaced rates for the general public, both statewide and nationally.
Among its employees, 48 staff at the Chino prison have also tested positive for the coronavirus.
Though prison officials have broadened available data about case counts and infection rates within prisons, groups that support families of those incarcerated have called for more transparency about the coronavirus-related deaths.
They have called on officials to release data that counties have been providing for the public in their coronavirus briefings, such as age and any conditions the inmate had before contracting the disease.
