Half of Arizona jail inmates test positive

PHOENIX: More than 500 inmates — nearly half the population — of a prison in the US state of Arizona have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, officials said, while at a California prison the virus death toll hit 22.

The Arizona Department of Corrections said on Tuesday that 517 inmates at the ASPC-Tucson Whetstone prison “have tested positive for Covid-19”.

Those inmates “are currently being housed as a cohort together in separate areas and are receiving appropriate medical care. They will not be allowed back into the general population until they have been medically cleared,” its statement read.

The coronavirus has severely afflicted US jails and penitentiaries, home to the world’s biggest prison population, which comprises 2.3 million inmates.

Officials are unable to force adequate distancing in crowded cells and face shortages of medical personnel and personal protective gear.

Arizona, which has a population of 7.3 million, has reported more than 180,000 coronavirus cases, of which 1,429 are in prisons. Seven of its Covid19 fatalities happened in state prisons.

California however has reported 51 deaths among prisoners, including 22 in the notorious San Quentin prison just north of San Francisco.

The most recent victim died Aug 4 at an outside hospital from apparent complications related to Covid-19,” the California Department of Corrections said.

One day earlier authorities reported the death of a San Quentin prisoner on death row from Covid-19.

AFP A California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officer stands guard at the front gate of San Quentin State Prison in California where the virus death toll stands at 22 inmates.