Jim Turner
Florida’s prison system recorded 235 new coronavirus cases and two inmate deaths over the weekend, according to figures released Monday by the state Department of Corrections.
An additional 167 inmates and 68 corrections workers have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.
In total, the state has logged 3,687 inmate cases and 1,077 employee cases.
Thirty-four inmates have died of complications related to COVID-19, including two inmates whose deaths were reported Monday.
Over the past four weeks, the number of COVID-19 cases in the corrections system has more than doubled to 4,764 cases. While several prisons are experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks, 17 facilities in various parts of the state have recorded at least 100 inmate cases.
Columbia Correctional Institution, a prison in rural North Florida, has reported 455 inmate cases, while Homestead Correctional Institution in Miami-Dade County has totaled 302 inmate cases.
Five prisons — Bay Correctional Facility, Hamilton Correctional Institution, Liberty Correctional Institution, Polk Correctional Institution and South Bay Correctional Facility — have logged at least 200 inmate cases.
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Republished with permission of the News Service of Florida.
