Another Connecticut prison inmate died from complications of COVID-19 on Tuesday and prisoner-rights advocates called on Gov. Ned Lamont to do more to protect those incarcerated in Connecticut from the coronavirus.
The death was the 13th in the state prison system during the pandemic, the second reported this week and the fifth in the last month.
The latest fatalities were both 69-year-old men who had been transferred in the last month from the medical ward at the MacDougall-Walker prison in Suffield to an outside hospital.
The inmates’ names were not released. The inmate who died Tuesday was serving a 12-year sentence for sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. The inmate who died Monday had been serving a 30-year sentence for sexual assault and kidnapping.
“I would be lying if I said that hearing this bad news was not disheartening, but it only strengthens my resolve to continue the agency’s fight to combat the spread of this virus,” Correction Commissioner Designate Angel Quiros said.
But David McGuire, the executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut, said the state has not done enough.
There were 431 infected inmates in the system Tuesday, according to the department. There also were 280 staff members currently recovering from the coronavirus, according the department’s website.
McGuire called on Lamont on Tuesday to immediately order the release of more inmates to “de-densify the prisons” and prevent the spread of the virus. He also said the state should place prisoners in the next group of people eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, after health care workers and nursing home residents.
“Prisoners are no different than other people living in congregate settings,” McGuire said. “In the scheme of things it’s a relatively small population that is at great risk and also poses a risk to the community at large.”
Lamont on Monday said he was inclined to follow recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which does not include inmates with prison workers, teachers, postal workers, grocery store employees and others in the so-called “Group 1B,” who are expected to begin receiving the vaccine in late January.
Correction Department spokesperson Karen Martucci said prison staff are tested weekly and inmates tested biweekly, upon intake, before release, before an inter-facility transfer, and when an individual is identified during contact tracing or exhibits symptoms associated with the virus.
She said the department has brought in 52 temporary health care workers to assist in dealing the with problem. She also noted that the inmate population in Connecticut is at its lowest level in years and said the department is working to identify more inmates who can be released early.
“As we work to expedite eligible offenders back to the community, we have not abandoned our risk assessments or protocols that allow crime victims to provide impact statements as part of the discretionary release review process,” she said. “We did, however, add a prioritization process for approved inmates that are over 40 years old with significant medical needs. This is about balancing public safety and public health.”
Gov. Lamont’s office reported 1,583 new coronavirus cases in the state on Tuesday. Hospitalizations increased by 16 to 1,159 and 27 more deaths were linked to the virus, bringing the total during the pandemic to 5,703 in Connecticut.
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