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Following in the footsteps of states like New Jersey and Ohio, Washington state will be releasing incarcerated individuals in a bid to prevent coronavirus spread among inmates.

The Associated Press (AP) writes that nearly 1,000 nonviolent offenders will be furloughed to create more space in the facilities as a means to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The Washington state Supreme Court ordered the state Department of Corrections (DOC) “to take all necessary steps to protect the health and safety” of current inmates during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a press release.

The state DOC is also required to submit a report to the state Supreme Court detailing all the preventative steps “that have been taken and will be taken.”

In Washington, which was one of the first states to endure a COVID-19 outbreak, a total of eight incarcerated individuals and 14 corrections officers have reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus.

The state’s largest prison outbreak occurred in the Monroe Correctional Complex, a minimum security facility. Currently, five Monroe staff members and seven inmates are infected with the coronavirus, per data from the DOC.

Inmates at Monroe asked the state Supreme Court to order Gov. Jay Inslee and Corrections Secretary Stephen Sinclair to release inmates who are age 60 or older, have underlying health conditions or are close to their release date, the AP reports.

Under the court order, Inslee and Sinclair must submit a plan by noon Monday. Prison officials currently intend to release nonviolent offenders and those held on lower-level supervision violations, the AP reports. Some prisoners will have their sentences commuted and others will be let out through a modified re-entry program.

Statewide, Washington has confirmed 10,538 coronavirus cases and a total of 516 fatalities.

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