Aug. 28. 2020
W.Va. records first inmate death believed related
to COVID-19
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – An inmate from the South Central
Regional Jail died early Friday while at an outside hospital, and the preliminary
assessment from health officials attributes the cause to complications from
COVID-19.
The
40-year Wood County man was being held on federal charges. He had underlying
medical conditions and tested positive for COVID-19 within the past week while
at the hospital. His is the first death linked to COVID-19 of an inmate ordered
to a W.Va. Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation facility since the state
confirmed its first case on March 17.
The
inmate had tested negative in the second round of enhanced testing at South
Central, conducted Aug. 12, as had nearly 450 other inmates and more than 80
employees. That facility had seven active and 57 recovered inmate cases as of
Thursday, with 13 inmate tests pending. Among employees, the jail had one
active case with six others listed as recovered and two tests pending.
DCR
has since conducted a second round of enhanced testing at the Mount Olive
Correctional Complex. That facility-wide testing began Aug. 23, finishing with
employees Wednesday and completing the remaining housing units Friday. So far,
162 inmates and 115 staff have tested negative. As of Friday morning, Mount
Olive had 31 active inmate and 13 active staff cases
DCR
has been in communication with state and local health officials as well as
federal prosecutors and the U.S. Marshals Service regarding Friday’s death. DCR continues to post testing updates daily on the Correctional Facilities page of West
Virginia’s main website for its COVID-19 response, coronavirus.wv.gov.
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