Prisons in US release inmates to stop spread of coronavirus

US prisons and jails nationwide are releasing non-violent inmates to stem the spread of novel coronavirus following a slew of confirmed cases in the prison system.

Prisons in California, Illinois and Ohio have released hundreds of inmates early. Officials in other states including Utah, and in New York are set to follow suit.

The country has at least 2.3 million inmates in federal, and state prisons and local jails. There are at least 175,000 federal inmates serving sentences in Bureau of Prisons facilities.

In New York, where there were 6,211 confirmed cases and 43 deaths as of Saturday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said those being released will include people who were arrested for minor crimes and those most vulnerable to infection due to underlying health problems.

Corrections officers and administrative personnel have tested positive for the virus in New York, and in the states of Texas, New Hampshire and Georgia.

In New York, a corrections department employee died from the coronavirus. Four other corrections officers tested positive for the virus along with a prisoner at Rikers Island prison.

Inmates at other New York state jails and prisons, including Sing Sing are infected, said officials, who did not provide numbers of infected cases. The Corrections Department banned all visits at New York correctional facilities until April 11. More than 200 inmates were released from Cuyahoga County jail in Cleveland, Ohio. Most are low-level, nonviolent inmates.

"We are trying to make as much room as possible, so when this virus hits our jail, the jail can deal with these people, quarantine them and deal with it instead of letting them sit there and infect the whole entire jail," said Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Administrative Judge Brendan Sheehan.

In Utah, officials said as many as 200 inmates could be released from the Salt Lake County jail in the coming days.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said authorities released at least 90 inmates, most of them women, on Friday evening in response to the pandemic.

Those being released are nonviolent offenders, and most are in jail for technical violations or for not showing up in court.

Gill said that another batch of people would be released this week to free up anywhere between 150 to 200 beds so there is enough room for those who commit violent crimes during the pandemic to remain behind bars.

Elias Husamudeen, president of the New York City Correction Officers' Benevolent Association, criticized the city's push to release inmates.

Medical supplies needed

He said that instead of releasing inmates the city should ramp up its efforts to bring in more masks, gloves, hand sanitizers and other vital supplies for the men and women who must also put their health at risk by showing up at work every day, providing care, custody and control. "Correction officers' lives matter too," he said.

Sue Allison, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Prisons, said in a statement: "All cleaning, sanitation, and medical supplies have been inventoried at every one of its 122 facilities, and an ample amount of supply is on hand and ready to be distributed or moved to any facility as deemed necessary."