Newsom to release 8,000 prisoners in California by end of August amid coronavirus outbreaks

Gov. Gavin Newsom will release approximately 8,000 people incarcerated inside California’s prison system by the end of August in an effort to save lives amid devastating coronavirus outbreaks at several facilities and pressure from lawmakers and advocates.

The releases, which were announced Friday, will come on a rolling basis, and they will include both people who were scheduled to be freed soon and people at high risk of serious complications if they contract the virus.

Across state prisons, 2,286 people in custody were confirmed to have active cases of the virus and 31 had died as of Friday morning, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Staffers with active cases of the virus totaled 719.