Good morning, fellow seekers.
Associate Editor Cassie Miller here, filling in for John this week, who is taking a much-deserved break.
Let’s dive right in, shall we?
On Saturday, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections reported that a 38-year-old inmate at SCI Pine Grove died from COVID-19.
The department confirmed that SCI Pine Grove has 10 more active inmates cases of COVID-19 and eight active cases among staff.
Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said in a statement then that the state’s correctional facilities are not immune from the fall resurgence happening across the commonwealth.
“We are experiencing the same thing that our counties are experiencing, and we are following very strict procedures to mitigate the virus’ impact on our state prisons,” Wetzel said. “I’ve directed our staff to act aggressively and quickly when inmates report influenza-like illnesses, and that includes isolating and quarantining inmates, locking down units or entire prisons as needed, conducting regular cleanings and even 72-hour deep cleanings in order to protect staff and inmates.”
On Monday, two more cases were confirmed. One at SCI Laurel Highlands, and the other at SCI Phoenix.
The COVID dashboard on the Department of Corrections’ website confirmed 1,989 active inmate cases across Pennsylvania and 935 active staff positives as of Monday evening. |