States and the Bureau of Prisons in the United States have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by authorising the release of certain prisoners since March this year. However, recent reports show that these efforts have not resulted in a dramatic decrease of the prison population so far, which reduced only by 1.6 percent in the first 3 months of this year. Although many local jails have reduced the number of detainees significantly, statistics show that comparatively few have been released from state prisons. 

Despite public pressure, and risks to the health and lives of prisoners, the restrictive criteria for release and bureaucratic hurdles have resulted in fewer releases than needed to tackle the spread of the coronavirus in prisons.  

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