Two hundred Chino prisoners were transferred to San Quentin, Corcoran. Why wasn’t it initially tested?

A prisoner in a male facility in Chino, California-the most deadly coronavirus outbreak in state prisons-has not been tested for viruses for weeks before reaching nearly 200. Transfer to another facility by bus, Including the Bay Area, Chronicle Learned.

At least 16 of the transferred prisoners tested positive for the virus, raising concerns that the virus could spread to facilities that had been defeating their outbreaks for months.

Between May 28-29, California Department of Orthodontic Rehabilitation Services transferred 66 vulnerable persons from the Chino facility to the California State Prison in Corcoran to rescue patients from an outbreak in Chino. .. On May 30, the system transferred 121 people to San Quentin State prison, according to prison officials.

As of Monday, 15 of the men transferred to San Quentin tested positive and one was transferred to Corcoran.

Prison officials on Monday said there were no other confirmed cases in San Quentin, and the recent transfer was placed in 14-day quarantine upon arrival. But officials interviewed by Chronicle and those incarcerated said they were concerned that the virus could spread.

“Somewhere in the building,” said Glenharder, 58, living in North Block, San Quentin. “They stopped it, it wasn’t here at all, and suddenly they introduced it to us directly from CIM to us.”

Both San Quentin and Corcoran reported zero coronavirus cases in their population until shortly after their transfer.

Steve Famah, a staff lawyer at a prison law firm, confirmed a prison official’s report that the timing of the Corcoran outbreak was coincidental and that only one patient came from CIM. Newly arrived patients would not be able to transmit the disease so quickly.

The first case of Corcoran was recorded on May 29. The San Quentin case was June 1st.

California’s notorious overcrowded prisons have emerged as a breeding ground for coronaviruses in some of the state’s 35 facilities, affecting more than 3,000 and more than 400 of its 111,000 inmates.

Civil rights defenders say it’s nearly impossible to keep a social distance behind a tavern because of poor ventilation systems, small rooms, and shared space for eating and showering. I am saying. Prison data show how fast the virus spreads. There were 91 CIM cases recorded on April 30, and by May 15 there were 475 cases.

The recent transfer was triggered by negotiations in a lengthy federal court battle over substandard medical practice in California prisons in an effort to protect CIM’s medically vulnerable patients from infection. But staff familiar with the situation say the move was done in a hurry and carelessly, endangering the lives of thousands of people at a facility that managed to fight off the virus for months.

Chronicle interviewed three San Quentin employees about the story. Everyone was afraid of retaliation and spoke under anonymous terms, Anonymous source policy..

When the men were deported, they were split into buses, each carrying a bus carrying about 20 to 25 imprisoned people, and a few correction officers.

Sources told Chronicle that four men to San Quentin had COVID-19 symptoms before getting off the bus.

“As part of measures to address COVID-19 and protect vulnerable groups of known prisons, the CDCR recently sanctuated individuals at the California State Men’s Hospital (CIM) at high risk of infection. Have been transferred to other prisons, including prison spokeswoman Danashimas.

Shimus said the man was “tested before and after transfer and medically evaluated,” but refused to provide a specific test day.

“…The people displaced from CIM were tested at different times, depending on where they live,” she said.

A San Quentin employee familiar with the situation said that some of the transfers from CIM were not tested after May 1 and some were tested on May 6. The latest test was done on May 12th, more than two weeks before the first transfer.

Two other employees confirmed the account, saying the transfer had taken up to 30 days since the last exam for some patients.

As of Monday, CIM reported 521 coronavirus cases and 12 deaths. Bryce reported 989 prisons in the Chakkawara Valley and 665 prisons in Avenal, According to the prison system COVID-19 Tracker.

Prison officials said the transport had five reusable cloth protective masks, which “we needed to wear during transit.”

According to the corrections department, six employees of San Quentin had tested positive for the virus before returning to work.

A 56-year-old Jerry Pitts in North Block, San Quentin has completed radiation therapy for prostate cancer.

“This prison was clean and nice,” Pitts said in a telephone interview. “We didn’t have anything, but now we risk us by bringing in people.”

Hurder, who was diagnosed with HIV, said new people who were transferred were likely to meet the same nurse and contact the same correctional staff.

“The medical care here is trying to do its best, but they are getting a lot of crap,” he said. “They can do very little.”

In late March and early April, defenders of prisoners file urgent complaints in federal courts, and California relies on numerous vulnerable and low-risk prisoners to ease congestion and prevent inevitable illness. Claimed to be released.

State lawyers counterattacked and resisted a thorough release. Ultimately, a guard dog appointed by the federal court was able to identify a particularly vulnerable prisoner in Chino prison, who was found to be negative by coronavirus testing, according to court filings on 27 May. Should be transferred to.”

Prison officials initially intended to transfer nearly 700 people, but the prison health care system suspended the rest of the move last week, said Steve Fama, a staff lawyer at the prison law firm representing plaintiffs. It was

“It’s a pity that these transfers, made to keep people safe, have created a situation where people in San Quentin now have to worry about whether they’re virus-safe,” he said.