SAN QUENTIN – California prison system officials triggered a ‘public health disaster’ in San Quentin and Corcoran prisons last year by transferring inmates from other prisons through a poorly planned and hasty process, while COVID-19 rates across the state soaring, according to a damning report from a government agency.
The 69-page report, released Monday by the inspector general’s office, found transfers to San Quentin from the California Institution for Men in Chino in the spring and summer of 2020 were “ severely impaired and health and life of thousands of detainees and personnel. The report found that staff relied on outdated or inadequate tests, that officials were pressured to rush transfers and that staff who raised concerns were largely ignored.
In fact, a health director at Chino prison “explicitly ordered that detainees should not be retested the day before the transfers began,” the report said. The problems were so evident that at least two inmates in California showed clear symptoms of the coronavirus when they got off the bus from Chino to San Quentin.
Twenty-eight people died from COVID-19 in San Quentin, and more than 2,000 cases – about two-thirds of the prison population at the time – contracted the virus, according to data released by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
“Our investigation also found that when staff became aware of the positive test results shortly after the detainees arrived, both prisons were unable to conduct contact search inquiries,” Inspector General Roy Wesley wrote in the report’s cover letter. “According to San Quentin, there were too many positive cases to be contacted in a short period of time.”
Wesley’s letter notes that since the transfer debacle, the prison system has “taken multiple measures to better protect detainees being transferred between prisons, including implementing procedures requiring prisons to conduct COVID-19 tests on the transfer of detainees. persons no more than five days before the transfer, followed by a rapid test on the day of the scheduled transfer. ”Wesley noted, however, that his office has not yet reviewed these new implementations.
When asked to comment on the findings, a CDCR spokeswoman released a prepared written joint statement from her department and California Correctional Health Care Services.
“We appreciate this report from the OIG, and note that there were many factors that contributed to the need to move medically high-risk individuals from CIM last May that are not reflected in the report,” the statement said. “The transfers were made with the intention of minimizing potential harm to CIM patients from COVID-19, and were based on a thoughtful risk assessment using scientific information available in May 2020 on the transmission of this new disease. We have recognized that a number of mistakes have been made in the process of these transfers, and both CCHCS and CDCR have since made necessary changes in patient movements. “
The outbreak has become the subject of a Senate investigation, as well as several lawsuits. It’s also a sticking point for decarceration advocates, who held a weekend rally – a car caravan across the Bay Bridge – that called on Governor Gavin Newsom to follow the advice of health officials to authorize thousands of release from the state prison system.
The Inspector General’s report is part III of the agency’s long-term review, and the findings so far have not been great. A report published in October found that while personal protective equipment was widely available in the prison system, inspectors noted that “staff and inmates often did not adhere to those basic security protocols.” An August report found that vague screening guidelines “have apparently led to inconsistent implementation in prisons.”
Although San Quentin’s COVID-19 rates have dropped dramatically since mid-2020, there are still more than 2,200 active cases in the state prison system. According to data from the CDCR, nearly 200 detainees have died.
Monday’s report suggests that many in CDCR and CCHCS saw the disaster coming. An email from a “CCHCS Nurse Director” sent on May 27 – a day before the transfers began – notes that three weeks earlier, “far too many days ago” inmates had been tested to make prison transfers safely, even if the prisoners were quarantined at the new prison upon arrival. Another email from “California Institution for Men Manager” said that “it’s hard to get things right in a hurry … I’m surprised headquarters is now looking to relocate our inmates.”
Of those transferred, 189 were medically vulnerable and therefore were at higher risk of death if they contracted the virus, according to the report. Just a day before the first bus left Chino, officials were still debating key details such as how many people to put on each bus and where to accommodate them upon arrival in Corcoran and San Quentin. When the prisoners arrived, their belongings were so disorganized that it was impossible for the staff to immediately find out what belonged to whom.
“Not only had the prison recently failed to test the transferred detainees to make sure they were not infected with COVID-19 at the time of the transfers, but prison staff also conducted early oral and temperature examinations for several detainees. that were scheduled for transfer. to effectively determine whether they had symptoms of COVID-19 when they boarded the buses to Corcoran and San Quentin, ”the report said.