About 1,500 inmates escape from Brazilian prisons amid COVID-19 outbreak: Reports

Approximately 1,500 inmates have escaped from at least four semi-open penitentiaries in the Brazilian region of Sao Paulo following riots against the measures taken by the government to fight the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, several local media outlets reported.

The inmates in the municipalities of Mongagua, Tremembe, Porto Feliz and Mirandopolis rebelled late on Monday after the government imposed quarantine measures, which prompted fears among detainees that they would lose their visitation rights and the right of temporary leave, the O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper said.

The Secretariat of Public Security of Sao Paulo maintains that the measure was justified because it will help more than 34,000 inmates of the semi-open regime, who, upon returning to prison, risk infecting their fellow prisoners.

There have been a total of 234 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Brazil, according to the Health Ministry.