Three more inmates from California Institution for Men in Chino die

Three inmates from the California Institution for Men have died from coronavirus complications, a state prison spokeswoman said Sunday, bringing to nine the number of prisoners at the Chino facility who have died as a result of the pandemic.

The inmates died at a hospital outside the prison, and the exact cause of their deaths has yet to be determined, said brief statements from California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Dana Simas, which added that relatives for the three have been notified. One died Saturday and two died on Sunday.

California Institution for Men is the only prison in the system’s 35 institutions where deaths attributed to COVID-19 have been reported.

It also has the largest numbers of diagnosed inmates, 457 currently in custody, and 630 confirmed cases since March 10. The men’s prison most recently housed 3,317 inmates and was at 111.5 % of its capacity.

On Saturday, families of inmates protested outside the prison.

Attorneys representing inmates have been pressing to have the most vulnerable ones removed from CIM to other institutions, or possibly to places outside of prisons, saying in a filing Wednesday that it was believed most or all of the six CIM inmates who had died at that time were living in prison dorms when they developed symptoms.

Those inmates were called “especially vulnerable” because of their age or serious medical conditions, Prison Law Office attorneys said in a federal court filing.

The transfer proposal has been turned down by prison officials

The California Correction Health Care Services said it believes that “mass movement of high-risk inmates between institutions without outbreaks is ill-advised and potentially dangerous.”

Prison Law Office attorneys said the denial goes against an “indefinite commitment” from prison officials that they were considering moving some high-risk patients from CIM.

Attorneys for the prisoners said in the federal court filing that 27 inmates from CIM were at outside hospitals while being treated for virus complications.