DOC reports first inmate death related to COVID-19

• By Mark Pesto
  mpesto@tribdem.com
• Apr 14, 2020

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections on Monday reported the first COVID-19-related death of a state prison inmate.

The inmate died on April 8 at Einstein Medical Center, according to the DOC. He had been incarcerated at SCI-Phoenix in Montgomery County. The DOC did not identify him by name, but said he was a 67-year-old man who had been serving a life sentence for a first-degree murder conviction out of Philadelphia.

The Montgomery County coroner notified the DOC on April 11 that the cause of the man’s death was determined to be acute respiratory distress from pneumonia due to COVID-19, with contributing factors of hypertensive cardiovascular disease and liver cirrhosis.

As of 4:30 p.m. Monday, the DOC had reported 14 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among state prison inmates, all at SCI-Phoenix. No other DOC facility has had a confirmed case, although SCI-Houtzdale in southern Clearfield County had a false positive test in early April. Forty-six inmates have tested negative.

Meanwhile, 22 DOC employees have self-reported testing positive for the virus, including seven from SCI-Phoenix and three each from SCI-Fayette and SCI-Retreat. Employees who test positive have been instructed to remain off work until a medical professional clears them to return. No deaths have been reported among employees.

The link to the story can be found here https://www.tribdem.com/coronavirus/doc-reports-first-inmate-death-related-to-covid-19/article_0d3b96e6-7e5c-11ea-aa79-0ff8ae131a4e.html