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A Prison System Tops in Virus Deaths Starts Reopening Anyway

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The head of the Ohio corrections system says state prisons must begin reopening to accommodate the slow return to business as usual.

Ohio has the most coronavirus deaths in prisons of any state. But Annette Chambers-Smith said this week that the agency needs to figure out how to live with COVID-19 going forward.

Chambers-Smith says the department has begun accepting new inmates from jails again and must soon resume the normal process of transferring inmates when necessary.

Her comments won’t please inmate advocates arguing for the mass release of inmates. But legal action could force changes.