prisoners to state prisons. july 15: 569 inmates at 13 of the states 16 prisons have tested positive. california further information: covid-19 pandemic in california alameda county: on march 20, alameda county officials announced that 247 people would be released from santa rita jail, located in dublin. los angeles county: on march 17, the county sheriff's department announced that it had reduced the inmate population by 600 during the previous two weeks in an attempt to keep prisoners from being infected by coronavirus. san diego county: on march 16, the sheriff's department said it had started reducing the number of people being accepted into the county's seven jails and had received approval for early release of some prisoners. other measures included in-cell meals, a suspension of visitation, and suspension of jail programs. santa barbara county: as of april 17, the county jail had released 324 prisoners. the sheriff announced on a friday night that one inmate has tested positive for covid-19. as of july 17, 39 prison inmates have died in california prisons; about half of these were disabled. from march 31 to june 6, there has been 42,107 confirmed cases of covid-19 along with 510 deaths from state and federal prisons with a case rate of 3,251 per 100,000 prisoners; making it 5.5 times higher than the case rate of us population which is 587 per 100,000. georgia further information: covid-19 pandemic in georgia (u.s. state) the georgia department of corrections (doc) suspended visitations and announced additional sanitation measures, but the atlanta journal-constitution reported that inmates had seen no extra soap. a prison worker was confirmed to have covid-19 on march 18—the doc, citing "security and hipaa restrictions", declined to name the affected prison. the first detected case of covid-19 in a prison inmate was at lee state prison two days later, on march 20. on march 21, cnn reported that three inmates tested positive for covid-19 at lee state prison in leesburg. three other prisoners were under observation with similar symptoms. illinois further information: covid-19 pandemic in illinois testing for covid-19 revealed the first case of infection on march 22 in cook county jail, chicago. 10% of the 5,000 inmates were released as a cautionary measure, but the number of infections had risen to 134 by march 30. fifteen inmates and eleven staff have tested positive at other facilities in the state, with at least 80 waiting for test results. one prisoner died on march 30 at stateville correctional center in crest hill, illinois. louisiana further information: covid-19 pandemic in louisiana as of april 9, six out of nine deaths among prisoners in federal prisons in the united states had occurred within a single prison at oakdale, louisiana. twenty-seven youths aged 13 to 20, and 14 staff have tested positive in louisiana's four secure juvenile detention facilities—the bridge city center near new orleans, the acadiana center for youth in bunkie, the swanson center for youth in columbia, and the swanson center for youth in monroe. children are confined to their rooms, they do not get schooling or visits from case managers or clergy. massachusetts further information: covid-19 pandemic in massachusetts the first prison case of covid-19 in massachusetts was reported on march 21 at massachusetts treatment center. the prisoner and his roommate were placed in quarantine on march 19. as of march 31, 17 prisoners had tested positive at the massachusetts treatment center as well as six department of correction staff—four at the treatment center, one at mci-shirley, and one at the department of correction central office. two prisoners have tested positive at the middlesex jail and house of correction in billerica, as have 14 employees in the state's county jail systems. michigan further information: covid-19 pandemic in michigan the michigan department of corrections banned visitors to prisons, along with prohibiting any volunteers from working in them. staff at prisons were required to have their temperatures taken and them to be under 100.4 °f (38.0 °c) along with other measures. the michigan career and technical institute suspended all programs until april 5. new jersey further information: covid-19 pandemic in new jersey on march 24, a 31-year-old male mexican national in custody by u.s. immigration and customs enforcement (ice) in hackensack, new jersey, was held in isolation after being tested positive for covid-19. he was the first migrant to test positive, and ice suspended the intake of new migrants. new york further information: covid-19 pandemic in new york (state) after a guard and a prisoner tested positive for coronavirus at the rikers island prison, new york city mayor bill de blasio stated that city officials will identify individuals for release, including persons arrested for minor crimes and those most vulnerable to infection due to chronic health problems. in addition to the cases at rikers, other prisons in the state, including sing sing, have recorded positive tests among prisoners, and one member of the correction's department has died from the virus. rikers island released 51 non-criminals with underlying conditions on april 14. as of march 25, 75 new york city inmates had tested positive for covid-19 and 37 city corrections staff members, up from 50 inmates and 30 staffers the previous day. north carolina further information: covid-19 pandemic in north carolina the wayne county health department reported their first recorded death on april 23 after testing positive on april 18, and that as of april 20, neuse correctional institution had approximately 450 of its 700 inmates test positive, and all inmates were to be tested; few reported symptoms. all of the staff could be tested as well. as of april 24, positive cases had risen to 465. pender correctional institution, in burgaw reported the state's first death in a prison. as of december 13, 6,059 cases, more than 1 in 6 people in custody, has tested positive for covid-19. ohio further information: covid-19 pandemic in ohio protester at an april 24 event with a sign referencing the marion county prison on april 8, the national guard arrived at elkton federal prison in columbiana county to assist the medical staff when a large number of prisoners became ill with the virus. on april 18, the national guard and highway patrol arrived at the state prison in marion county to assist with "mission critical functions" after infections of correctional workers and prisoners. by april 19, over 1800 prisoners at marion correctional institution, approximately 3/4ths of the population, plus 100 staff had tested positive. overall, the prison system had almost 2500 cases by april 19, representing almost a fifth of ohio's cases. on april 22, the marion county prison was first-ranked as the hot-spot for the virus in the country, followed by the pickaway correctional institution. marion county was first in cases per capita in the nation, while pickaway county was fourth. the ohio prison system is designed to hold about 35,000 inmates, but held about 49,000 in april 2020. on april 22, federal judge james s. gwin ordered the elkton prison to identify vulnerable inmates and transfer them from the facility. he also ordered officials to "evaluate each subclass member's eligibility for transfer out of elkton through any means, including but not limited to compassionate release, parole or community supervision, transfer furlough or non-transfer furlough within two weeks". he noted, "with the shockingly limited available testing and the inability to distance inmates, covid-19 is going to continue to spread, not only among the inmate population, but also among the staff". he condemned the federal department of corrections, asking: "why has the justice department allocated elkton an entirely insignificant number of tests while ohio has been able to pull off mass testing across not only marion, but at multiple institutions?" pennsylvania further information: covid-19 pandemic in pennsylvania due to ongoing public health concerns related to the coronavirus, on march 13, the eastern state penitentiary (a historic site which stopped operating as a prison in 1971) was closed to the public. south dakota further information: covid-19 pandemic in south dakota nine prisoners escaped from a minimum-security women's prison on march 23, the same day a fellow inmate tested positive for covid-19. three were captured on the crow creek indian reservation and one was captured in rapid city. it was not immediately clear if the diagnosis prompted the prisoners to escape. texas as of july 2020, at least 84 inmates have died in texas prisons. washington further information: covid-19 pandemic in washington (state) fourteen inmates escaped from the county jail in yakima county on march 23. they used a table to break down an exit door and then climbed a fence. the u.s. marshals service offered rewards of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrests of these escaped inmates. wisconsin further information: covid-19 pandemic in wisconsin the first covid-19 positive case in the wisconsin state prison system, an employee at waupun correctional institution, was reported on march 18 by warden brian foster. inmate advocacy groups called on the department of corrections and governor tony evers to change prison policies to protect prisoners and guards during the epidemic. venezuela further information: covid-19 pandemic in venezuela reuters reported that venezuela's notoriously overcrowded and unsanitary prisons could spread the coronavirus "like a fast-moving fire." venezuelan prisons frequently lack bathrooms, people sleep on floors, and many inmates spend their days without shirts or shoes on, in part to combat the heat of windowless facilities. this has caused us secretary of state mike pompeo to demand the maduro government release six citgo executives, held in prison since 2017, on humanitarian grounds. pompeo said that all six men have weakened immune systems and "face a grave health risk if they become infected" with covid-19. the venezuelan medical federation asked for the release of political prisoners in the country, specifically roberto marrero, juan requesens and other lawmakers. on march 18, 84 out of 518 inmates escaped from a prison in san carlos, zulia, after restrictions against the pandemic were announced, including jail visits. mayor bladimir labrador declared that ten prisoners were killed during the prison break and that two policemen were detained for complicity. according to carlos nieto palma from the ngo ventana a la libertad, the suspension of visits directly affects the prisoner's nutrition, given that there was no state-sponsored program to feed them. the ngo provea denounced "grave human rights violations" after a military spokesperson announced the "neutralization" of 35 escapees. state authorities later declared that there were eight deaths.