Fresno County Jail Has More COVID Cases Than Any Jail Or Prison In U.S.

The Fresno County jail reportedly has more COVID-19 cases than any other facility in the nation, according to data collected by the New York Times.

Nearly 4,000 inmates have tested positive for coronavirus over the last seven months. At full capacity, the facility holds about 3,000 people.

The sheriff's office confirmed it had 3,814 inmates with coronavirus through January 12. As of February 1, it has 28 active cases. That's nearly 20% of inmates who have gone through the jail since the pandemic started around March, says ABC30.

Sheriff Margaret Mims told ABC30 the high case count reflects their efforts in controlling the coronavirus.

"We've been really aggressive with our testing at the Fresno County jail," said Mims.

Fresno County jail's first outbreak started in late June, a few months after criminal defense attorneys urged jails and prisons to cut their inmate populations in half to allow for effective social distancing.

The county jail has released 16,882 inmates since April 5, 2020, according to data retrieved by ABC30. However, most of the releases were not related to COVID-19.

Harris County jail in Houston, Texas ranks behind Fresno County but also has over three times as many inmates. The following five correctional facilities on the list are all California state prisons including the State Prison in Corcoran.

Photo: Getty Images