The California state jail system has seen a staggering increase in coronavirus cases over the past week - with cases at the overcrowded San Quentin facility jumping from 100 to 539 - and total inmate deaths across the state prison system totalling 20. Attorneys, advocates and former inmates say this increase suggests that lowering prison populations might be the only effective way to stop the pandemic's resurgence inside the US penitentiaries. The state has seen 1,001 new COVID-19 cases in its prison system in the past 14 days, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) said on Friday afternoon. This increase comes as the United States experiences record-setting spikes in coronavirus cases. San Quentin is California's only state prison with a death row, accounted for the majority, with 512 new cases as of Friday.