State Assembly Member Marc Levine, D-North Bay, is again calling for the removal of the federal receiver in charge of health care in state prisons.
Levine, who first called for court-appointed receiver Clark Kelso's removal in October, is asking again that he be ousted after an inspector general's report found that the state’s decision to transfer dozens of inmates to San Quentin State Prison at the onset of the pandemic led to a massive outbreak.
Levine says Kelso and his team knew, or should have known, that some of the transferred men may have already been infected with the coronavirus.
“They in fact pushed forward with the transfer knowing that the data they had was flawed and probably faulty," Levine said.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says 28 incarcerated men and one employee at San Quentin have died from the virus.
A statement from CDCR acknowledges mistakes but says it's made changes to improve safety, including increased testing, more protective equipment and designating areas for isolation and quarantines.
"Since the changes were implemented, there have been no outbreaks attributed to institution transfers," the statement said.