As of June 4th, CDCR facilities have reported 2,680 COVID-19 cases and have tested 17,472 individuals. On Friday, the confirmed cases count was 1,319, nearly half of today’s count. The sudden spike in cases raises alarms about the disease spreading unprecedentedly in CA prisons.
California Institute for Men, in Chino, San Bernardino County, has reported 2 additional deaths today, making the death toll 12. CIM has 696 confirmed cases and has tested 3,391 individuals. No deaths have been reported at other CDCR facilities.
The number of confirmed cases continues to rise at Chuckawalla State Prison (CVSP) and Avenal State Prison (ASP). ASP has the highest confirmed cases count in the CDCR system – 837 individuals have tested positive, a 39.73% increase since yesterday. 1,502 individuals have been tested, yielding a positive test rate of 55.72%.
CVSP has the second highest count – 828 positive cases.1,230 individuals have been tested, yielding a positive test rate of 67.32%.
New cases have been reported at CA State Prison Corcoran – 7 confirmed cases and 565 tested, and at Wasco State Prison – 5 confirmed cases and 1,482 tested. The high testing rates are positive indications and suggest that these facilities are addressing the disease proactively.
The surge in positive cases and lack of testing at CVSP and ASP raises questions about CDCR’s efforts to contain and control the spread of COVID-19. The evidence continuously suggests that the disease is going unidentified and undetected in these facilities and more efforts need to be taken to control the numbers.
There are zero confirmed cases in CDCR facilities located in Marin County, Solano County, Sacramento County, Amador County & San Joaquin County. Facilities in these five counties are continuing to test for the virus.
Note: The definition of tested aligns with that prescribed by Johns Hopkins University. Patients are considered to be tested only when the test result is returned, i.e. the testing count reported by a facility includes the total number of tests for which results have returned, and not the total number of tests administered.
Source: The California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation (CDCR) reports COVID-19 information through a daily dashboard that is accessible here – https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/covid19/population-status-tracking/.
Dashboard & Report by Aparna Komarla
