Protest held at Avenal State Prison after COVID-19 outbreak inside facility

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Dozens were out near Avenal State Prison to protest after a large surge of COVID-19 cases has been announced in the facility's prisoner population.

On May 31, health officials reported 373 new cases of the virus from the prison near Avenal.

There was another huge surge of 245 cases on Thursday. In Kings County, 878 of its COVID-19 cases are in prisons.

Protesters are now asking what the facility is going to do to answer their concerns.

"We want to know why they allowed this to happen, and now that it's there, what are they doing to address it," says Michelle Tran. "What are they doing to take accountability? How are they going to contain it? What are they going to do to keep it from getting worse? "How much blood is going to be shed for this COVID?

On May 27, all staff was required to take Mandatory COVID-19 cases, but it's not clear at this time when prisoners were required to undergo tests.