May 7, 2020 at 4:16 PM EDT – Updated May 7 at 4:16 PM
PENDER COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) – Eleven more inmates at the Pender Correctional Institute have tested positive for coronavirus, lifting the total number of cases to at least 15.
Late last month, an inmate died of COVID-19 there, marking the county’s first fatality to the virus. According to county officials, the prison has significantly increased testing of the offenders at that location.
The eleven person increase lifted Pender County’s total number of cases to 31. Another way to look at those numbers is that roughly half of them involved inmates at Pender Correctional.
In response to the pandemic, the state Department of Public Safety has put several safety measures in place, including providing additional personal protective equipment, limiting inmate interactions and stopping vistation during this time.
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