As the coronavirus spreads rapidly nationwide, the number of COVID-19 cases in Californias prisons has risen dramatically in recent weeks, with nearly 1 in 10 people incarcerated there currently infected with the virus.

There are more than 8,800 people incarcerated statewide with active COVID-19 cases out of more than 91,000 total incarcerated, per the states corrections department. That amounts to about 9.6% of people in prisons currently having the virus.

Across Californias 35 prisons, there are over a dozen prisons with COVID-19 outbreaks that have each seen hundreds of new cases in just the last two weeks. And more than 3,000 prison staff currently have the virus.

More than 100 people in Californias prisons have died from COVID-19 this year.

In protests last weekend, prisoners advocates called for the state to release more people.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (which was responding on behalf of Gov. Gavin Newsoms office as well) told HuffPost that the prison population has been reduced by over 22,000 people since March, bringing the state to its lowest prison population in three decades.

But advocates say that is evidently not enough, as COVID-19 is spreading rampantly this winter.

They are literally killing people by their indifference, said Kate Chatfield, policy director for the Justice Collaborative. She noted that most of the people released from Californias prisons amid the pandemic were already set to get out within another 180 days or so, and that advocates have been calling for a far more dramatic reduction of cutting the prison population by half.

They knew this was going to happen, Chatfield added, noting there were deadly COVID-19 outbreaks in California prisons this summer and public health experts warned of a winter resurgence. The level of indifference to human life, the level of neglect is shocking.