Indonesia has released some 18,000 inmates in a bid to stop corona virus from rampaging through its overcrowded prison system.

The mass release comes days after the authorities promised it would free inmates to take pressure off prisons and jails overwhelmed by unsanitary conditions and at risk of infectious diseases.

The government release order includes juvenile offenders and adult prisoners who had served at least two-thirds of their sentences.

A spokeswoman for the Corrections Directorate General, RIKA APRIANTI says the country’s target is to release 30,000 inmates in total.