SAN QUENTIN — An inmate at San Quentin State Prison became the 11th at the prison to die from what is believed to be complications from the coronavirus, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Wednesday.
The inmate died Tuesday at an outside hospital. The agency said it was not identifying him “to protect individual medical privacy.”
The deaths have come amid a COVID-19 outbreak at the prison that has seen 1,302 prisoners infected by the virus. Two inmates at San Quentin State prison died Saturday, prison officials said.
The outbreak occurred after 121 inmates from the California Institution for Men in Chino were transferred to San Quentin in May because of an outbreak in Chino. The prisoners who were transferred were not tested for the virus.
On Friday, Gavin Newsom responded to the outbreak by approving the early release of more than 8,000 inmates from state prison.
Statewide through Tuesday, 37 inmates have died and 2,195 inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus. In the past two weeks, 1,159 inmates have tested positive.
