Another inmate has died from COVID-19, this time it was a 62-year-male who was housed at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution.
The inmate, who is not being named for privacy reasons, was the 22nd inmate to die following incarceration.
The Department of Correction says prior to his death he suffered from several underlying comorbidities. He was serving a sentence for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs and his maximum release date was Jan. 12 next year.
“This is a sobering reminder that Covid-19 cannot be taken for granted. Our Agency will not let its collective guard down – we will continue to fight against the spread of this dreaded virus,” said Department of Correction Commissioner Angel Quiros. “My condolences go out to his family.”
As of last Friday, 104 inmates were symptomatic with COVID-19 including 91 who were in the infirmary at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution, according to the DOC website.
There were also 149 asymptomatic inmates who had tested positive for COVID-19 throughout the prison system and 99 staff were out with COVID-19 as well.
The number of inmates who have tested positive for COVID-19 has doubled since late August when the delta variant of the disease led to an increase in positive cases and quadrupled since late July when cases throughout the state were relatively low.
At the same time, vaccinations against the disease have been slow with only 107 inmates agreeing to be vaccinated since Aug. 27, DOC figures showed. As of last week, there has been 5,003 inmates vaccinated, DOC officials said.
