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California sheriff says inmates tried to infect themselves

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The Los Angeles County sheriff says inmates at a jail tried to infect themselves with the coronavirus by sharing a container of water and a mask.

Sheriff Alex Villanueva showed surveillance videos on Monday from two units at the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic. The footage captured inmates in one unit sharing water and others in a second unit sniffing a mask. Authorities say 30 inmates in the units were later diagnosed with COVID-19, two of whom were later released.

Villanueva said the inmates mistakenly believed that they would be freed if they were infected.