Coronavirus infections are on the rise in a North Texas federal prison, where more than 1,000 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 and at least one inmate has died.
Of the 1,798 inmates at the Federal Correctional Institute in Seagoville, at least 1,072 have contracted the virus. Ten staff members also tested positive and four recovered, according to the official count by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Last week, only 668 inmates tested positive, NBC Dallas reported.
An inmate, James Giannetta, 65, died Thursday of COVID-19, the office said. He first tested positive on June 26 and was taken to a local hospital two days later after experiencing shortness of breath.
Giannetta, who was serving a 14-year prison sentence for a drug and conspiracy to launder money charges, was eventually put on a fan and died on July 16. He had pre-existing long-term medical conditions, according to the prison bureau. .
FCI Seagoville has the largest COVID-19 outbreak of any federal prison in the country, according to the office’s count. Inmates there have complained to loved ones that conditions have deteriorated since March, NBC Dallas reported. Prisoners have been confined to their cells since March and the air conditioning system does not work, according to the station.
According to the bureau’s count, almost 3,600 federal inmates and more than 300 prison officials have tested positive for COVID-19. As of Friday, 5,434 inmates and 631 employees have recovered from the virus. Ninety-seven federal inmates and one employee have died.
On Friday, Texas reached a grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic, registering 300,000 confirmed cases. She broke her single-day record of new COVID-19 cases with 14,780, and also broke her record for single-day deaths with 149, the latest NBC News count showed.
It is one of four states, joining California, Florida and New York, which have 300,000 infections.
