SEE IT: Inmates caught on video trying to infect themselves with coronavirus

And the award for the most ill-conceived escape plan of all time goes to...

A group of California inmates were caught on surveillance video trying to intentionally infect themselves with coronavirus by sniffing a mask and drinking from the same water bottle, authorities said Monday.

The “deeply disturbing” behavior at a Los Angeles County jail resulted in at least 21 inmates testing positive for COVID-19 within a week, Sheriff Alex Villanueva told reporters at a news conference.

But only two of those men were eventually released from the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic as part of an ongoing effort to reduce the prisoner population across the county.

One of the videos shared by Villanueva on Monday show an inmate using a hot-water dispenser to fill a plastic bottle and then passing it around as multiple men take swigs from it.

“Under normal circumstances, no one would do that anyway," the sheriff said, “particularly when everyone has the same access to the water and to all the different supplies.”

The unsanitary move was a calculated attempt to raise their body temperatures because it happened moments before a nurse went to check them, the sheriff said. One of the most common symptoms of coronavirus is an elevated temperature.

Meanwhile, in a different unit within the facility, another group of inmates were seen sniffing out of a mask and sharing hot water from a Styrofoam cup.

“It’s sad to think that someone would deliberately try to expose themselves to COVID-19,” Villanueva said.

The incidents took place in mid-April inside the facility’s day rooms, a common area where inmates can hang out and make phone calls. The footage also shows the men standing extremely close to each other even though there was plenty of space for social distancing.

The Los Angeles County jail system — the largest in the country — has had more than 200 coronavirus cases, but no inmates have died from the disease, according to the sheriff’s office. As of this week, more than 4,500 inmates remain quarantined within the system.