July
28, 2020
Statement
regarding recent death of Mount Olive inmate
CHARLESTON,
W.Va. – A 73-year-old Mount Olive Correctional Complex inmate
died on July 17, while receiving hospice care for stage 4 metastatic cancer.
A COVID-19 test administered shortly before his death has since come back
positive, but the treating medical provider has determined COVID-19 not to be a
contributing factor.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention advises that a case involving a positive test for COVID-19 should
not be reported as a COVID-19 death if medical opinion concludes it did not
cause or contribute to the death. That is the finding of the treating medical
provider contracted by the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The Bureau
for Public Health at the W.Va. Department of Health and Human Resources has
reviewed the inmate’s case and concurs.
The inmate had twice tested negative for
COVID-19: in June during the enhanced testing of Mount Olive, and within a week
of his death while at an outside hospital for care. The inmate was tested again
when he returned to Mount Olive, and it was this third test that came back
positive last week. Following his return to the facility, he was in quarantine
as required by DCR’s COVID-19 response policy.
DCR and its medical provider have
coordinated with DHHR to conduct contact tracing and additional testing in
accordance with DCR policy and CDC guidelines.
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