In three weeks, Chuckawalla Valley State Prison has gone from having zero confirmed cases of COVID-19 to 993, the worst coronavirus outbreak to hit the California prison system to date.
About 44% of the 2,256 men incarcerated at Chuckawalla, which sits on the eastern edge of Riverside County, have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to figures published by the state prison system.
While no inmates have died at Chuckawalla, the virus has spread swiftly: Before May 15, no inmate had tested positive for COVID-19, according to Dana Simas, a spokeswoman for the California prison system. Nearly 1,000 have been infected since. Every case remains active.
By comparison, the California Institute for Men in Chino, where 12 inmates have died, has recorded 759 total cases of COVID-19, 521 of them still active.
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