Coronavirus-related death reported at Neuse Correctional prison in Goldsboro
An inmate at Neuse Correctional Institution in Goldsboro died Thursday from COVID-19, the fifth coronavirus-related death in North Carolina’s state prisons, according to a news release.
The man was in his late 60s and had pre-existing health conditions complicated by COVID-19, according to a release from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.
He tested positive April 19 and was hospitalized April 22, the release said. He died at the hospital Thursday. .
His death was the third at Neuse Correctional Institution. The prison has one of the highest case counts in prisons nationwide with 467 testing positive out of 702 inmates tested, according to the N.C. Department of Public Safety.
N.C. Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh has the next highest number of cases in the state prison system with 90 cases, out of 213 positive tests. An inmate there died Wednesday due to complications from the virus. She was the first inmate to die at the women’s prison near downtown Raleigh, The News & Observer reported.
Pender Correctional Institution also has reported one death.
There are now 640 inmates who have tested positive for coronavirus in the state prison system out of almost 1,300 inmates who have been tested, as of May 7, according to the N.C. Department of Public Safety.
Advocacy groups have worked to get inmates released because of the coronavirus outbreaks that have been spreading through county, state and federal correctional facilities.
