Missouri inmate, a man from the Kansas City area, dies from the coronavirus
A Missouri prison inmate has died from the new coronavirus, officials in St. Joseph said.
The man, who was in his 50s and from the Kansas City area, was the first inmate in the state to test positive for COVID-19.
He was last housed at Western Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in St. Joseph and his death is being counted in Buchanan County, said City of St. Joseph spokeswoman Mary Robertson.
The man entered the Missouri Department of Corrections in August and was housed at a facility in Cameron.
He was transferred to the prison in St. Joseph on March 4 to be treated for other medical conditions.
On March 19, he was taken to a Kansas City area hospital, where he later tested positive for the coronavirus. He died Thursday, Missouri Department of Corrections spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said.
Advocates have expressed concern for those behind bars. Social distancing is nearly impossible for prisoners, they say. Many live in cramped quarters with unsanitary conditions and lack access to health services.
More than three dozen people and organizations — including medical professionals, the Missouri State Public Defender, the ACLU of Missouri, the state NAACP, professors and the sheriff of St. Louis — called on the Missouri Supreme Court to order judges to immediately release certain detainees in county jails.
A juvenile at a Division of Youth Services facility in St. Louis has also been infected and five Missouri Department of Corrections staff members have tested positive.
In the federal prison system, 195 inmates have contracted the virus.
This story was originally published April 7, 2020 at 12:11 PM.
