Live updates: California prisons report new cases alarming

SACRAMENTO (Calif.) -- California's new coronavirus variant is spreading rapidly and attorneys representing inmates warn that prison staff may violate health orders, putting at risk another outbreak of the deadly virus.

Live updates: California prisons report new cases alarming

Recent statistics indicate that large numbers of employees who are required by law to test twice weekly don't do so and many face no consequences.

Officials in corrections claim they are updating these figures, but have not yet provided any new data.

Officials have temporarily closed Wasco State Prison in San Joaquin Valley, due to more than 150 new infections over the past two weeks. Officials say that all inmates in the state must be fully vaccinated by Monday, except for religious or medical exemptions.

These actions are coming as new California cases rise and state models predict an increase in intensive care admissions and hospitalizations over the next month.