US prisons have reported 30,000 cases of coronavirus among inmates and guards, a US university research group reported on Wednesday, as a government study said prison guards could be instrumental in the spread of the disease, according to AFP.

Data compiled from official sources by the Covid-19 Behind Bars Project of the UCLA law school showed that out of more than two million people incarcerated nationwide, there were 21,007 confirmed coronavirus cases, and 295 deaths.

Among prison staff, there were 8,754 cases and 34 deaths.

The data was complied from federal, state and local prisons across the country that report it.

Infections in prisons across the country have rocketed in recent weeks even as the national daily total appears to have reached a plateau.