Newly released state data shows a lack of coronavirus testing for New York prisoners, with the general public receiving nearly four times the number of tests per capita compared to inmates. 

Data posted by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision shows there have been 350 total tests for the coronavirus administered to prisoners statewide as of April 19. 

That's about one test for every 119 state prisoners. The state's general population has received about one test per 30 people, according to state figures. 

The low testing figures come despite warnings from experts that correctional facilities are a prime environment for the new coronavirus to spread, particularly due to close living quarters. The testing disparity also underscores complaints from prisoner advocacy groups that New York is under testing its inmate population. 

Stefen Short, a staff attorney with the Prisoners' Rights Project at The Legal Aid Society, described the testing numbers as meager. Earlier this month, their clients reported not being able to receive a COVID-19 test despite having symptoms associated with the virus, he said.

Shared living facilities and limited access to cleaning products like soap make it difficult, if not impossible, to follow the guidelines set by public health experts, he said.

The Legal Aid Society, with assistance from Kasowitz Benson Torres, filed a petition recently seeking the release of nine inmates from the state prison system. The litigation argues the prisoners, due to their age or an underlying medical condition, are vulnerable to serious illness or death if infected by the virus.

Going forward, Short said the actions of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state prison department will determine what lawsuits get filed. 

Cuomo, at a weekend press conference on the coronavirus, said there is not enough COVID-19 testing for any group across the state, including for prisoners, health care workers and police officers. 

"That's true across the board. That's why we have to bring testing to scale across the board, because it's true for everyone," he said.

Earlier this month, the Cuomo administration announced has it started the process of releasing certain older prisoners who have about three months or less remaining on their sentences.

That move followed a separate announcement that as many as 1,100 people jailed on parole violations throughout the state would be released.

Yet Phil Desgranges, a senior staff attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union, warned the virus will spread like "wildfire" in state prisons and more must be done to depopulate the facilities. The organization has urged Cuomo to expedite the review processes for prisoners eligible for parole. 

"To have so few tests administered since the pandemic began, I think it's just inexplicable," he said. 

Five state prisoners with COVID-19 have died as of April 19, three of which are tied to Sing Sing Correctional Facility north of New York City, according to data released by the state prison agency. The majority of the confirmed inmate COVID-19 cases stem from five facilities—Sing Sing, Wende Correctional Facility, Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, Fishkill Correctional Facility and Green Haven Correctional Facility.

The data disclosure is an about face for the prison department, which previously denied its release due to security reasons.

Advocacy groups, including organizations supporting prisoners, issued a joint statement Monday saying the testing figures show less than 1% of state prisoners have been tested for the virus.

"This information provides further proof that Governor Cuomo does not care about the lives of incarcerated people," the groups said in a statement. "If he did, then he would test every single person in prison and answer the nation's call for him to grant broad clemencies."

The cohort included a group that aims to release aging people from prison.