Psychiatric Hospital Called ‘Tinderbox’ of Covid-19 Infections (2)

The fear is palpable in California’s largest state-run psychiatric facility. It’s crept in with every whisper of a new Covid-19 diagnosis, filling the space left behind by each khaki-clad patient who was led away to a segregated area for the sick.

“I don’t want to die in here with the coronavirus,” said José Marin, a patient at Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity in an arson case 10 years ago.

An advocacy group asked a judge to release as many as half the patients housed in Patton after a dramatic rise ...