Coronavirus updates: ‘Inmate dumping’ from California prison, more than 40,000 dead in US

Coronavirus has been posing a threat to populations inside of California state prisons since the onset of the pandemic. One response to the issue has Mendocino County officials making claims of “inmate dumping.”

An inmate at the California Institution for Men in Chino who had been exposed to coronavirus was released 500 miles away from the facility in Ukiah on April 8 without being quarantined.

Just a day prior, the inmate, who was not a resident of Ukiah, was told that he had been exposed to the virus. He tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday.

Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall said it was like “throwing sparks in the dry grass.”

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials said the inmate was screened for signs of illness before being released.

“The formerly incarcerated person was identified as meeting the criteria for expedited release as laid out in California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation plan,” CDCR press secretary Dana Simas said in an emailed statement. “He was asymptomatic in a comprehensive screening by institution medical staff before his release on April 8, and was provided a facial barrier to wear while in-transit to his county of release.”

But the explanation didn’t satisfy some officials in Mendocino County.

Mendocino County District Attorney C. David Eyster referred to the release as “state prison inmate dumping” on his office Facebook page.

Coronavirus by the numbers

As of late Sunday afternoon, nearly 2.4 million people worldwide have been infected with COVID-19, while almost 165,000 have died of the respiratory disease, according to data provided by Johns Hopkins University.

The U.S. remains by far the largest cluster of cases in the world, with more than 755,000 positive test results.

The country broke 40,000 deaths Sunday afternoon. More than 67,000 patients have recovered after being infected with the virus.

Spain has seen over 196,000 cases and 20,000 deaths, while Italy has seen nearly 180,000 cases and over 23,000 deaths.

New York is still one of the hardest-hit locales in the pandemic. More than 247,000 state residents have tested positive for the virus, while 85,000 New Jersey patients have been identified.

California has nearly 31,000 cases and has 1,151 deaths, while more than 280,000 Californians have been tested for COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins.

Sacramento County is reporting 925 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 34 deaths as of Sunday, an increase of one since Saturday.

Placer County reported 132 cases and eight deaths, while Yolo County reported 137 cases and nine deaths, up by one since Saturday, and El Dorado County reported 36 cases and no deaths.

Anti-lockdown Capitol protests Monday

A group with a history of protest over such hot-button as vaccination is slated to protest at the Capitol on Monday against the lockdown measures California has implemented in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Freedom Angels, which coordinated protests in 2019 against vaccination legislation in the form of Senate Bill 276, has scheduled a protest on the west steps of the Capitol at 8:15 a.m.

COVID-19 has killed more than a thousand people in California alone. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order in mid-March directing state residents to stay home until further notice. The economic impact has been significant, as many workers have been sent home without pay, lost their jobs altogether or have been forced to take furloughs.

Freedom Angels co-founder Tara Thornton argued that the measures were putting undue financial burden on Californians.

“People need to get back to work, get back to life, get back into contact with their loved ones who they’re isolated from, they need to be able to have a paycheck,” Thornton said. “This is the grounds they will enslave us upon.”

The Freedom Angels Facebook page is highly active, often sharing photos of protesters across the country. One post likened governmental coronavirus restrictions to the English crown circa 1776.

The United States has seen many protests echoing these themes crop up in recent days. On Sunday, hundreds congregated at the Washington state Capitol to protest stay-at-home orders. Slogans at that protest included “Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Covid 19!”

Newsom’s high-wire act

Newsom walked the line between transparency and pragmatism during a Saturday press conference in Santa Clara County in which he described the precarious nature of a nearly $1 billion contract for masks from a Chinese company.

“We are providing as much information as we feel is appropriate,” Newsom said. “We are in desperate need of new masks. We have locked in contracts to procure hundreds of millions, and we don’t want to put them in peril.”

The deal, which is for 200 million masks per month shipped from Chinese company BYD, has been secured, according to Newsom, but he still expressed fears that it could fall through.

Newsom noted that it would not be unprecedented if that were to occur. The Associated Press chronicled several failed mask acquisitions earlier this month after competing counties offered multinational vendors a bigger check.

“This is the wild, wild West,” Newsom said. “People competing against one another, things that looked promising, that were locked down, that somehow were stopped at the border, sent back.”

The BYD contract stipulated that California pay nearly half of the $1 billion up front, which is atypical for government acquisitions.

El Dorado County to fine Tahoe vacationers

The message is clear: stay out of Lake Tahoe during the pandemic.

After local health officials previously issued a no-travel order for the Lake Tahoe Basin, aimed at tourists who were still looking to get away, even amid statewide stay-at-home directives, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a new fine for vacationers.

The ordinance, approved unanimously Tuesday during a meeting held via Zoom, makes provisions for a $1,000 fine, to be levied upon those violating the no-travel order, with exceptions made only in the case of essential travel to the area.

“Travel into the Lake Tahoe Basin for non-essential purposes continues to take place and these visitors further impact an already decreased availability of essential supplies and food at grocery stores and pharmacies,” the ordinance said. “The potential damage caused by a violation of specified orders of the County Health Officer demands a substantial penalty so as to provide an effective deterrent to violating such orders.”

In its ordinance, the Board of Supervisors noted that Barton Memorial Hospital, which is the only acute care facility in the Lake Tahoe Basin, has already been impacted by COVID-19 and cannot take any additional strain caused by visiting patients.

Sutter County seeks local control

The Sutter County Board of Supervisors announced Saturday that it is considering reaching out to Newsom to request local control of stay-at-home orders.

All California county health orders are subordinate to statewide orders, meaning that if Sutter County’s directive to stay home expired, as it is currently scheduled to on May 3, residents would still have to abide by the state’s final timeline, which is effective until further notice.

Sutter County Office of Emergency Management officials said in a statement Wednesday that “planning has begun on what it would take to re-open the economy.”

A special Board of Supervisors meeting is scheduled for Sunday afternoon to discuss sending a letter to Newsom “regarding lifting shelter in place restrictions.”

Placerville City Council recently agreed to send a similar letter to the governor asking for a reprieve from state orders.

What is COVID-19? How is the coronavirus spread?

Coronavirus is spread through contact between people within 6 feet of each other, especially through coughing and sneezing that expels respiratory droplets that land in the mouths or noses of people nearby. The CDC says it’s possible to catch the disease COVID-19 by touching something that has the virus on it, and then touching your own face, “but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”

Symptoms of the virus that causes COVID-19 include fever, cough and shortness of breath, which may occur two days to two weeks after exposure. Most develop only mild symptoms, but some people develop more severe symptoms, including pneumonia, which can be fatal. The disease is especially dangerous to the elderly and others with weaker immune systems.

This story was originally published April 19, 2020 at 11:36 AM.