COVID-19’s spread in Valley prisons rose sharply. One facility saw a 2,775% jump
Coronavirus cases among women inmates at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla exploded for a 28-fold increase between December and March, the largest percentage increase among all California state prisons and correctional facilities.
On Dec. 17, 28 women in the Chowchilla prison were confirmed to have COVID-19. That figure ballooned to 805 in the latest figures reported Saturday by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
That’s an percentage increase of 2,775% over the three-month period – more than double the second-highest increase within the 35 prisons in the state system.
Collectively, the nine state prisons in the central San Joaquin Valley – from Madera County in the north to the communities of Delano and Wasco in northern Kern County – reported a total increase of 4,164 inmate cases of COVID-19 during that time span. As of Saturday, here are the total cases in each of the facilities:
▪ Avenal State Prison, Kings County: 3,107 cases, up from 3,018 in mid-December.
▪ Central California Women’s Facility, Chowchilla, Madera County: 805 cases, up from 28 in mid-December.
▪ California State Prison, Corcoran, Kings County: 1,075 cases, up from 491 in mid-December.
▪ California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility, Corcoran, Kings County: 3,011 cases, up from 2,919 in mid-December.
▪ Kern Valley State Prison, Delano, Kern County: 893 cases, up from 668 in mid-December.
▪ North Kern State Prison, Delano, Kern County: 924 cases, up from 353 in mid-December.
▪ Pleasant Valley State Prison, Coalinga, Fresno County: 1,989 cases, up from 1,705 in mid-December.
▪ Valley State Prison, Chowchilla, Madera County: 1,730 cases, up from 1,196 in mid-December.
▪ Wasco State Prison, Wasco, Kern County: 1,761 cases, up from 753 in mid-December.
Across the six counties, 35 prison inmates have died from complications related to the coronavirus, the state reported. Statewide, 215 inmates have lost their lives to the disease.
Saturday case updates
On Saturday, the California Department of Public Health reported that Fresno County accumulated 113 new cases. A total of 785 new cases were recognized this week.
In the 12 months since the first confirmed local case was reported, the number of Fresno County residents who have had confirmed cases of COVID-19 – whether they experienced symptoms or not – has reached 97,969.
Of those, 1,546 patients have died from the disease, according to the Fresno County Department of Public Health. No additional deaths were reported in Fresno County by early Saturday afternoon.
In neighboring Kings County, county health officials reported 46 new cases, bringing the total to date to 22,505. One additional death was also confirmed, the 238th fatality in the county over the past year. More than 7,200 of the county’s cases, and 17 deaths, have been among inmates at state prisons in Avenal and Corcoran.
Madera, Merced and Tulare counties do not provide case updates on weekends. As of Friday afternoon, their totals were:
Madera County: 15,788 cases to date, including 226 deaths.
Merced County: 30,142 cases to date, including 428 deaths.
Tulare County: 48,770 cases, including 793 deaths.
This story was originally published March 20, 2021 at 3:15 PM.
