ANATOMY OF A PRISON OUTBREAK
1 March 22 Two employees at
California Institution for Men in
Chino test positive for COVID-19.
March 27 First Chino inmate infected.
May 23 Chino outbreak grows to
600 cases, nine deaths. Prison health care overseer recommends 691 high-risk inmates be transferred from Chino to coronavirus-free prisons.
2 May 28-29 Chino sends 66 inmates to Corcoran
State Prison with negative test results that are weeks old. After arriving, two test positive.
3 May 30 Chino sends 121 inmates to San Quentin State
Prison with weeks-old negative test results. After they arrive, 25 test positive with San Quentin’s first cases.
June 5 New policy: no transfers if tests older than a week.
4 June 8 Four San Quentin inmates who were not among those transferred from Chino are sent to California Correctional
Center in Susanville after having been tested for COVID-19 and receiving negative results within seven days.
June 17 One inmate who tested negative within past week tranfers across town to High Desert State Prison.
June 19 San Quentin outbreak grows to 500 active cases.
June 21 Three of the four San Quentin inmates transferred to
Susanville test positive for COVID-19.
June 22 Inmate transferred to High Desert becomes its first case.
June 24 San Quentin outbreak tops 1,000 active cases. First of eight death-row inmates dies from COVID-19 complications.
5 June 27 San Quentin corrections Sgt. Gilbert Polanco falls ill at his San Jose home. His wife and daughter also test positive. Polanco is hospitalized July 3. July 4 Third death-row inmate dies as San Quentin outbreak grows to 1,500 cases. July 31 Sgt. Polanco remains intubated and sedated. With his kidneys failing, he receives seventh round of dialysis.