3 inmates with COVID-19 dead in Alabama prisons

Medical worker holding Coronavirus COVID-19 NP OP swab sample test kit, nasal collection equipment, CDC submitting form, reverse transcription RT-PCR DNA molecular nucleic acid diagnostic procedure covid tile coronavirus tile covid test testing tile / Getty Images Medical worker holding Coronavirus COVID-19 NP OP swab sample test kit, nasal collection equipment, CDC submitting form, reverse transcription RT-PCR DNA molecular nucleic acid diagnostic procedure covid tile coronavirus tile covid test testing tile / Getty Images

By Associated Press February 2, 2022 1 min read

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Three more inmates who died in Alabama prisons tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Department of Corrections.

Two men who were incarcerated at St. Clair prison died late last month and tested positive for the illness during a post-mortem examination, the agency said in a weekly update about the pandemic. A third inmate at St. Clair tested positive for COVID-19 before he died, it said.

Sixty-two additional state inmates at 17 facilities tested positive for the illness, including three more at the prison where the men died, the department said. That’s about half as many as tested positive the week before, statistics showed.

More than 70 inmates and three employees who tested positive for COVID-19 have died. While the department said it offers vaccinations to all prisoners and workers, only two additional inmates at Ventress prison in southeast Alabama had received shots in the last week.

More than 12,000 prisoners have been vaccinated in all, it said.