First Montgomery County Inmate Dies From Coronavirus

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — An inmate died from coronavirus at Montgomery County Correctional Facility in recent days, officials said on Wednesday afternoon. He is the first inmate in the facility to lose his life to COVID-19.

The man was over 60 and had three underlying medical conditions which put him at greater risk for dying from the virus, Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh said.

He had been incarcerated since mid-2018.

He was one of two inmates who were hospitalized this month with the virus, officials said. The other individual has recovered.

A total of 24 inmates and 15 regular staff have tested positive in the facility since Aug. 2. All have been quarantined. The facility tests all new arrivals at the facility.

Another full round of testing of all inmates and staff will begin later this week, Arkoosh said.

The county has tested the entire facility twice since April. The testing revealed that 17 percent of all inmates were positive, though none were showing symptoms and none, at the time, required medical attention. One corrections officer was hospitalized back in April.

Since the pandemic began in March, the number of inmates has been decreased by 39 percent, from 1,342 to 818, according to county statistics.