After learning some correctional facilities have been releasing prisoners to protect them from contracting COVID-19, a group of inmates in Los Angeles County managed to intentionally get themselves infected, authorities say.
Surveillance footage taken inside the North County Correctional Facility shows inmates sharing a container of hot water in an attempt to raise their body temperatures just before they were due for a checkup.
Another clip shows a group passing around a used protective mask, which each of them holds up to his face and sniffs.
The tactics worked for 30 of the prisoners, says Assistant Sheriff Bruce Chase. Of the group that passed around the hot water, 21 have tested positive for the coronavirus, Chase says.
Nine of the mask-sniffers have also contracted the virus, he adds. But as it turns out, it was all for nothing. Chase says Los Angeles County does not have a policy that calls for the release of infected inmates.