Of the 640 youth currently being held, 175 recently tested positive for Covid-19, the highest infection rate since the correctional institutions reported the first case on June 14, 2020.
Across social media platforms this week, posts with the hashtag #ProtectYouthNow along with infographics detailing the rise in cases have been shared in an effort to convince Newsom to grant early releases for youth.
Since the pandemic surfaced in early March 2020, the governor has granted early release to thousands in California adult prisons to increase the amount of space for physical distancing and alleviate the potential impact on hospitals that serve the prisons. But some have long questioned why the juvenile justice system was not included in such releases.
The current outbreak among youth is the third and largest since the pandemic began. Since the first case was detected in June 2020, there have been nearly 400 youth who have tested positive out of 640 total youth with the majority of those positive cases occurring in recent weeks. The Division of Juvenile Justice has not released the Covid infection rate over time, which takes into account the changes in the number of youth in the facilities.
