Over the last couple of years, Megan Cassidy has become a bit of an expert on life inside California's prisons, especially California's oldest prison, San Quentin, guards, inmates, relatives of people inside. they all seem to know how to reach her.

So does that mean your cell phone is ringing all the time?

Yeah, I joke that I think that my phone number is written on a bathroom stall somewhere and there.

It's actually the journalists at the prison newspaper who've become some of Megan's best sources.

There are a couple guys there that if I say, hey, I'm looking for somebody who can talk to me about

suicides in prisons. I'll get three calls that day from somebody who knows somebody, but from

the inside that can help me along with my story.

When did your contacts inside start talking to you about the coronavirus?

Only about a month ago.

A month ago.

That's when a few dozen new inmates showed up.

All of them transfers from the same prison, seven hours south.

Megan's contacts started hearing coughing, and then they started getting sick.

How many inmates are there at San Quentin?

There's about 3,500 right now.

How many of them have tested positive at this point? I think it's, it's about

1,400. So, so it's about 1 in 3. Once you have that many people testing positive, is it even

possible to control the outbreak? No, no. I mean, not in a place like San Quentin.

Today on the show, how San Quentin became a coronavirus hotspot. The virus was seated here by state

officials who either didn't know enough or didn't care.

And now those same officials, they've got to figure out whether they can make things right.

I'm Mary Harris. You're listening to What Next? Stick with us.

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