Since coronavirus entered the U.S., nearly 16,000 have fallen ill of COVID-19 and 134 have died. That number does not include people incarcerated in state prisons across the U.S. The Marshall Project’s criminal justice reporter Keri Blakinger explains why the general public should care about protecting people in prisons.
Another inmate in the Department of Correction system has died of complications related to COVID-19, department officials said Monday.
Officials said the 67-year-old man was transferred from the MacDougall-Walker Medical Isolation Unit to the hospital on November 26. He died Sunday.
This is the 10th COVID-19-related inmate death reported since the pandemic began, according to data released by the department.
The man entered the system in January 2021 and was serving a 24-year sentence for larceny and other charges.
Department officials said they, like the rest of the state, are seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases. They have been conducting mass testing and intent to increase those efforts. Staff will be tested weekly and inmates will be tested biweekly.
According to the COVID-19 dashboard, as of Monday there were 101 inmates in the system experiencing symptoms, and more asymptomatic carriers.
For more details on COVID-19 in Connecticut prisons, click here.
