Coronavirus In Texas: First Prison Inmate Dies Of COVID-19, As Statewide Lockdowns Expand
AUSTIN (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — A 72-year-old is the first prison inmate in the state of Texas believed to have died after medical complications related to the coronavirus.
Telford Unit inmate Bartolo Infante died Tuesday, according to a statement from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Infante suffered from a number of preexisting medical conditions and was hospitalized under isolation in Texarkana, for viral pneumonia.
An autopsy was ordered to determine if COVID-19 was a factor in Infante's death. Officials say four Telford Unit employees have tested positive for the illness and are under self-quarantine, while seven offenders have been infected.
The Telford Unit is under medical restriction, and the number of Texas state prisons locked down after inmates or staff tested positive for COVID-19 has risen from two to 15. Wednesday alone, 15 new employee/contractor tests and 19 positive offender tests were reported, bringing to 56 the number of TDCJ staff, employees and contractors and 47 inmates to test positive for the coronavirus.
More than 12,000 inmates are currently under lockdown statewide.
A 49-year-old corrections officer at the Estelle Unit prison in Huntsville, who had been hospitalized for a heart condition, died Monday after testing positive for COVID-19. TDCJ officials say they investigating whether the disease contributed to Kelvin Wilcher's death. No one else in the unit has tested positive.
There have been more than 9,300 cases of COVID-19 in Texas and 177 deaths, up from 154 on Tuesday.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)