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CHINO, CA––On May 13th, CDCR released a statement identifying a new outbreak of Covid-19 at the California Institution for Women (CIW) in Chino, California. Less than five miles away, at the California Institution for Men (CIM), the disease has swept through the population, with 398 confirmed cases and at least five deaths.
While CDCR has yet to release the number of new cases in the women’s prison, advocates at the California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP) have heard from incarcerated individuals that more than 50 individuals have been made aware of their positive statuses, as hundreds more wait to hear their results. One incarcerated individual who tested positive stated: “Almost my entire unit just tested positive. Some of them are canteen workers, kitchen workers, and workers who have been sewing masks. People who interact with everybody. We are terrified. This entire prison needs to be tested.”
Since mid-March, advocates have been demanding action to prevent an outbreak at CIW. In letters to prison and state officials, CCWP exposed dangerous conditions at CIW, including a lack of access to protective and preventive supplies and a blatant disregard by prison staff of CDCR’s own policies. Further, the state refused to listen to advocates and public health experts who warned that the only way to prevent outbreaks in prison is to reduce population density by expediting releases, especially for those at highest risk of the deadly effects of Covid-19.
While CDCR claims it instructed prisons to “conduct additional deep-cleaning efforts in high-traffic, high-volume areas” and to institute social distancing practices “wherever possible,” incarcerated people indicate that CIW staff failed to implement such policies and that social distancing is impossible in prison. In California’s overcrowded prisons, all spaces are high-traffic areas, but people report that not even the showers at CIW are being regularly cleaned or disinfected. Similarly, while guards were instructed to wear masks and social distance, CCWP continues to receive reports of guards refusing to adhere to these policies.
The devastating, needless deaths at CIM present a dire warning for prison administration and the State of California. The state must expedite release for vulnerable populations. At the same time, elected officials must ensure that CDCR goes beyond advertising preventative measures and actually implements meaningful, life-saving policies, including widespread testing.
