Inmates sew protective masks at Las Colinas Women's Detention Facility in Santee, California, on April 22, 2020. (SANDY Huffaker / AFP)
Timothy Christopher Bryant, 59, became the ninth prison inmate in Iowa to die from likely COVID-19 complications, the state's Department of Corrections said in a statement.
Three other inmates in the same facility have died of the disease caused by the coronavirus in the past two weeks, The Des Moines Register reported. Last week, the state in the United States' Midwest also saw the first COVID-19-related death among state prison workers.
Bryant had been serving a life sentence at Anamosa State Penitentiary since 1992 for first-degree kidnapping, according to a news release put out on Monday by officials.
More than 200,000 inmates and more than 43,000 prison staff at all prisons in the US have been infected with the coronavirus, according to the COVID Prison Project which tracks the coronavirus' impact on prisoners
More than 740 out of about 970 inmates, roughly 3 of every 4 incarcerated at Anamosa, tested positive for the novel coronavirus there from Nov 9-13, according to the Corrections Department and, so far, more than half have recovered.
In Utah, about 800 inmates housed by the Utah Department of Corrections have been infected with the virus, and two have died in the past week, according to TV station KUTV.
Both inmates tested positive on Nov 9 and had other medical conditions that could have contributed to their deaths, according to the department. So far, seven inmates have died of COVID-19 in Utah.
US prisons have become a breeding ground for coronavirus infections, more so than in the general population, according to the COVID Prison Project, or CPP, which tracks the coronavirus' impact on prisoners.
ALSO READ: Prisons in US release inmates to stop spread of coronavirus
As of Monday, a little more than 200,000 inmates and more than 43,000 prison staff at all prisons in the US have been infected with the coronavirus, according to the CPP. In the prison population, the infection rate is 138.97 per 1,000 individuals. In the general population, the infection rate is 34.51 per 1,000.
The highest case rate in state prisons is in South Dakota with 2,081 inmates (548.5 per 1,000) having tested positive for the virus as of Nov 19.
The CPP reported that the largest increases in cases within both the general and prison populations in recent weeks have occurred in North Dakota. Infections also have increased dramatically in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
As of Monday, 3,624 inmates in federal prisons and 1,225 federal prison staff members had tested positive for the virus, according to an NBC News report.
The situation is so dire in federal prisons that the Federal Bureau of Prisons is instructing wardens and other staff members to prepare to receive a coronavirus vaccine within weeks, The Associated Press reported.
Vaccines for staff
While the federal prison system will be among the first government agencies to receive the coronavirus vaccine, the initial allotments of the vaccine will be given to staff and not to inmates, the news agency reported.
READ MORE: US still short of virus protection
The situation is so dire in federal prisons that the Federal Bureau of Prisons is instructing wardens and other staff members to prepare to receive a coronavirus vaccine within weeks, The Associated Press reported
Some states are releasing inmates early to prevent the spread of the coronavirus among prisoners and prison employees.
Maryland did so last week. Republican Governor Larry Hogan issued an executive order releasing inmates eligible for home detention or whose prison term will expire within the next four months and aren't serving time for a violent or sexual offense. Other states have adopted similar measures.
A federal inmate wrote 17 letters pleading to be free due to severe kidney disease but was denied. He died of COVID-19 in early November.
According to NBC News, 52-year-old Waylon Young Bird, a Native American from South Dakota, was one of the seven federal inmates who died this month from COVID-19.
Young Bird was serving an 11-year sentence from September 2019 for distributing methamphetamine. He first wrote to his judge requesting compassionate release in June and was denied.
As the infections increased in prison, he continued to write to plead his case. In his last letter on Oct 28, he wrote that dozens of inmates in his unit had tested positive.
Young Bird tested positive on Oct 29 and died a week later with three other inmates in Springfield, Missouri.
Advocates for prisoners say the federal government should be doing more to help at-risk inmates.
