Coronavirus Infections Continue To Rise In Massachusetts Prisons

April 2, 2020
WGBH
By Jenifer McKim

An inmate from the Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater died Thursday after being treated for COVID-19 at a hospital, the state Department of Correction said.

State officials declined to provide the inmate’s name. He was in his 50s with “underlying health conditions” and his next of kin have been notified.

The inmate was the first known death in the state prison system related to the virus, part of a spreading contagion in the Massachusetts Treatment Center where the first case was announced nearly two weeks ago.

On Thursday, state officials said 23 inmates as well as three DOC staff members and a medical provider at the facility were confirmed with the virus.

They are among 34 staff and inmates in the state prison system to have confirmed cases on Thursday, up from 28 the day before, according to state officials.

One other inmate and a DOC worker have confirmed cases at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Shirley.