Health & Fitness

3rd Massachusetts Inmate Dies From Coronavirus

The inmate, a man in his 60s, had been in prison since 2019 and had underlying health conditions, the Department of Correction said.

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BOSTON — A third prisoner at Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater has died from the new coronavirus, state officials confirmed to Patch.

The inmate, a man in his 60s, had underlying health conditions, according to officials. He had been in the facility since 2019. He was quarantined and transferred to a hospital, where he stayed nine days after testing positive for COVID-19.

The department will not be releasing his identity or that of the other inmates who passed.

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The Bridgewater facility is a medium-security facility separately housing criminally sentenced men identified as sex offenders as well as those who have been civilly committed as sexually dangerous, according to the state website. It is separate from the Bridgewater State Hospital facility.

"DOC was informed on Saturday morning that an inmate from the Massachusetts Treatment Center who was being treated for COVID-19 at a hospital died that morning," a department of corrections spokesperson said in a statement. "The health of incarcerated individuals, staff, visitors and volunteers is of utmost importance to the department as we continue to expand health and safety measures at all facilities, including strictly limited movement within each facility, providing alcohol-based hand sanitizer, and frequently disinfecting high touch areas.”

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The news comes as the state reported Saturday that 216 people have died so far and 11,736 have tested positive for COVID-19 across the commonwealth.

In addition to the three deaths, 24 inmates have tested positive for the virus in Massachusetts so far, according to the department of corrections. The bulk, 22, are at the Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater and two at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution–Shirley. Fifteen staff have also tested positive for the virus, the department said.

Two medical staff, one at Massachusetts Treatment Center and one at MCI- Framingham have also tested positive for the virus.

The department of corrections announced Saturday it was going to start limiting movement and distributing hand sanitizer across each of its 16 facilities in an effort to slow the spread of the virus to its some 8,000 inmates.

The department said alcohol-based hand sanitizer has been distributed and is available to all inmates and staff at all facilities, high-touch areas are frequently sanitized, and access to soap and running water remain fully accessible to all inmates and personnel, in a statement.

Screening areas have been implemented at DOC facilities, where all persons entering have their temperatures taken and are surveyed for risk factors.

Staff, vendors, and others have been instructed not to enter if they feel ill or meet other criteria.

Beginning March 3, the department began strictly limiting movement within all facilities to allow greater social distancing within all facilities.

"DOC staff at all facilities have been instructed to utilize personal protective equipment if they will be within 6 feet of another individual or in an area with inmates who have tested positive for the virus," according to the statement.

Inmates will receive meals and medication in their units and have opportunities to shower, clean their rooms, and use the telephone. Laundry, mail, and other required services will not be interrupted. Attorney visits will not be impacted and will be permitted during this time, but visitor visits have been put on hold.

Inmates have died in Michigan, Louisiana and Illinois. In Cranston Rhode Island, ACI was on lockdown after several inmates developed symptoms. In Vermont staff at corrections facilities had tested positive. A Federal Prison Staffer In Berlin, New Hampshire tested positive for COVID-19, but so far no inmates in neighboring New Hampshire have died.

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