By Karen Florin
The Day
NEW LONDON, Conn. — A 67-year-old man who was incarcerated at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield died Sunday from complications of COVID-19, according to the state Department of Correction.
The inmate, who was not identified by the DOC due to medical privacy laws, had been transferred from the MacDougall-Walker medical isolation unit to an outside hospital for treatment on Nov. 26.
His was the 10th inmate death from COVID-19 recorded in the state prison system since the pandemic began. The agency indicated it would increase the frequency of its mass testing program, with staff being tested weekly and the inmate population biweekly, in an effort to minimize the spread of the virus.
The man was serving a sentence of 24 years and three months in prison for second-degree larceny and other charges, according to the DOC. He had last entered the prison system on Jan. 30, 2012, but his involvement with the department dated back to 1975.
He was scheduled to be released in March 2035, and was not eligible for parole until 2031.
The agency on Friday had reported its ninth death, a 47-year-old man who also was being held at the MacDougall-Walker prison and was serving a 27-year sentence for four counts of first-degree sexual assault.
As of Monday, the DOC reported 101 inmates with symptomatic cases of the virus, 216 inmates who tested positive but have no symptoms and 164 staff members recovering from the virus.
The figures indicate that 26 women at the Janet S. York Correctional Institution in East Lyme have the virus, with no symptoms, and one man at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Institution in Montville.
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(c)2020 The Day (New London, Conn.)