12 Oregon inmates who tested positive for COVID-19 now dead

MALHEUR COUNTY, Ore. – Twelve people who tested positive for COVID-19 have died in the Oregon State prison system.

The Oregon Department of Corrections said on the morning of October 5, an elderly man who tested positive for coronavirus died at a local hospital. He was incarcerated at the Snake River Correctional Institution near Ontario. It’s the third COVID-19-related death reported in the span of three days at that particular prison and the twelfth death in the state’s prison system.

Over 1,000 Oregon inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 as of October 1.

The Department of Corrections is not publicly releasing the identity of prisoners who died from COVID-19-related causes.

According to the DOC, their institutions clean and disinfect numerous times a day and all employees and adults in custody are instructed to wear masks when six feet of social distance can’t be maintained.

For more information about the DOC’s coronavirus response at https://www.oregon.gov/doc/covid19/Pages/default.aspx