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COVID-19 In Pennsylvania: Inmate At SCI Fayette Dies From Coronavirus

By: KDKA-TV News Staff

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - An inmate at SCI Fayette has died from coronavirus.

It was the third COVID-19 inmate death reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Friday. The 77-year-old's death at SCI Fayette follows the death of a an inmate at SCI Somerset and an inmate at SCI Waymart.

All three inmates died Thursday.

The 77-year-old is not being identified. He was serving a sentence of 23 1/2 to 47 years for forgery and has been at SCI Fayette since March 2013. He died in the hospital.

The corrections department says SCI Fayette has three active cases among inmates and 26 active cases among employees.

The state also said Friday that prisons are taking new steps to fight the spread of the virus. Some inmates will be transferred out of prisons where mitigation is more difficult.

Beginning next month, the state will open a regional infirmary at the state prison in Smithfield. It will treat inmates from other state prisons who don't have COVID, which will allow other prison infirmaries to focus on the patients who do.

"Just as we see a surge in community COVID-19 cases, our corrections/parole supervision system is experiencing a surge in cases," Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said in a release Friday.

"As a result, we are taking advantage of the nearly 6,000 decrease in our inmate population we've experienced since March to reorganize and reset our system. We look at this as a time of cleaning, healing and strengthening our system."

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