TUCSON - There are more than 40,000 people locked up in Arizona State Prisons. One bipartisan advocacy group is working tirelessly to convince state leaders to reduce the prison population to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

As of Tuesday, according to the numbers released by the Arizona Department of Corrections, 148 inmates were tested for COVID-19 across the state with 28 testing positive.

The criminal justice reform group FWD.us wants Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to reduce the prison population and release some prisoners back into their communities, into home detention.

Elissa Johnson, director of FWD.us for Arizona State, argued reducing the prison population will avoid a surge of COVID-19 cases among inmates.

This is a surge Johnson worries could climb into the tens of thousands.

“Social distancing is impossible in prisons,” Johnson said. “Ninety percent of Arizona’s prisons are dorm style which means they are not individual cells. They are large rooms where you have bunks where people are sleeping and living in tight quarters."

Claire Tate’s husband, Joshua, is in the middle of serving a 10-year sentence at the Douglas facility for drug possession.

“It is something that hangs over my head everyday,” Tate said. “What if, what if this is the day? It is an overwhelming feeling of helplessness. I can’t take him to a hospital if he gets sick. I can’t make sure he has the proper medical care if he falls ill.”

At a news conference earlier this month, Governor Ducey promised to ramp up testing in our prisons.

“So, we can do the appropriate action in terms of removing them from the general population and making sure they have the proper care and protections,” the governor said. “We’re continuing to focus on protecting public safety and we’re not going to be releasing any prisoners at this time.”

Tate is making a plea to Ducey and other state leaders to do more before it’s too late.

“Sir, you have the power to make a big change,” Tate said. “You have the power to stop an absolutely devastating pandemic from affecting this group of people. His drug possession sentence should not be a death sentence.”