Families demand the release of inmates amid COVID-19 outbreak at Soledad Correctional Training Facility

SOLEDAD, Calif. (KION)

On Saturday, families and friends gathered outside the Correctional Training Facility (CTF) in Soledad to hold a demonstration, demanding better healthcare for inmates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reports show more than 700 inmates and 60 employees have tested positive for the virus at CTF.

In response, the CDCR is set to install 26 tents to house up to 8 affected people for isolation.

Alice Davis, a demonstrator, says her husband is one of the inmates and she worries these tents may not work out.

“You’re going to send people out in the cold and have them to expect to survive COVID, which is a lot of pulmonary issues, imagine having to live there and the temperatures drop overnight," says Davis.

In a statement, Friday, CTF officials said all staff members and inmates received N-95 masks which are accessible at all times and have conducted mass COVID testing in the past two weeks, with staff members required to get tested every seven days.

Demonstrators say a more practical solution would be to stop the transferring of inmates to other facilities and for the inmates to be released.

“They should be released on home confinements with certain protocols and precautions that need to be in place," says Davis.

“I feel that anyone who has served their base time should be considered for release," says demonstrator Tamera Morgan Hudson.

The families say they are also pushing for more accessibility so they can monitor and keep up with the status of their loved ones' health.