161 Florida inmates have died from COVID-19, state says
California will ban the use of for-profit, private detention facilities, including those under contract to the federal government to hold immigrants awaiting deportation hearings, under a bill that Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday that he had signed.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - An additional seven Florida prison inmates have died of COVID-19, bringing the total to 161 since the pandemic started, according to state numbers.
The total was reported as of Wednesday, up from 154 a week earlier. Two of the additional deaths were linked to the Reception and Medical Center in Union County, bringing the total for that facility to 31, a listing by the Florida Department of Health shows.
Similarly, two of the additional deaths were linked to Union Correctional Institution, bringing the total for that facility to 12.
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Other facilities tied to the largest numbers of inmate deaths since the start of the pandemic are the South Florida Reception Center, with 20; Dade Correctional Institution, with 10; Columbia Correctional Institution, with nine; Blackwater Correctional Facility, with seven; Everglades Correctional Institution, with six; Graceville Correctional Facility, with six; and the South Bay Correctional Facility, with six.
Since the pandemic began, 16,599 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, according to numbers posted Thursday by the state Department of Corrections.
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