An inmate at SCI-Mahanoy who had tested positive for COVID-19 has died.
On Tuesday, the state prison reported that the inmate is the first within its facility to die with COVID-19.
Pennsylvania’s Dept. of Corrections is not going to identify the inmate, only to say that he was 33 years old and serving 5-10 years on an illegal gun possession charge. The inmate had been housed at SCI-Mahanoy since March 10 of this year.
Currently, at SCI-Mahanoy, there are 100 active cases of COVID-19 among inmates and 40 cases among staff members.
If an inmate tests positive, they’re held in either the prison’s infirmary or at a local hospital. Employees must stay home until they get a doctor’s note clearing them to come back to work.
“We are experiencing the same thing that our counties are experiencing, and we are following very strict procedures to mitigate the virus’ impact on our state prisons,” Dept. of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said in a statement Tuesday. “I’ve directed our staff to act aggressively and quickly when inmates report influenza-like illnesses, and that includes isolating and quarantining inmates, locking down units or entire prisons as needed, conducting regular cleanings and even 72-hour deep cleanings in order to protect staff and inmates.”
The SCI-Mahanoy inmate is the 26th in the state prison system overall to die with COVID-19.
Image: License acquired via Depositphotos.com
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