As the number of COVID-19 cases in Florida skyrockets, Department of Corrections officials reported Friday that two more state inmates have died of complications from the novel coronavirus.
The recent deaths bring the toll of inmate fatalities in Florida’s prison system to 23.
Corrections officials did not report where the two inmates whose deaths were reported Friday were housed. Twenty-one inmates have died of COVID-19 complications at eight prisons in various parts of the state, according to the most up-to-date information released by the Florida Department of Health on Wednesday.
Seven of the 23 inmates who died were located at Blackwater River Correctional Facility, while three Sumter Correctional Institution prisoners died. Three other inmates housed at South Florida Reception Center also have died.
Of the state’s roughly 94,000 inmates, 1,860 have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Friday, according to the latest report issued by the state.
Florida health officials on Friday reported 3,552 COVID-19 cases at correctional facilities across the state. The number includes county jails as well as state and federal prisons. The positive cases also include staff and inmates, according to Department of Health spokesman Alberto Moscoso.
The corrections cases, which include 403 prison and probation workers, comprise about 3 percent of the state's 122,960 total COVID-19 caseload.
