UMATILLA â Two inmates at Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla have died in the past week after testing positive for COVID-19, according to press releases from the Oregon Department of Corrections, bringing the recent death toll spurred by the surge in cases at the prison to four since the beginning of January.
Data from the department of corrections as of Wednesday, Jan. 13, shows that 101 inmates and 24 staff members at TRCI have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week.
The prisonâs total number of active cases among inmates has also climbed to 258, according to state data as of Jan. 13. Thatâs the most among prisons in Oregon, with the second highest coming from Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, which reportedly has 128 active cases among inmates.
A man incarcerated in a state prison and who had tested positive for COVID-19 died Thursday, according to the Oregon Department of Corrections. He was an inmate at the Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla. He died at a local hospital. DOC said the man was between 65 and 75 years old. Twenty-eight adults who tested positive for the disease and were incarcerated in an Oregon prison have now died, according to DOC.
Oregon Department of Corrections begins vaccinating staff; limited number of inmates will get doses soon
Updated Jan 08, 2021;
Facebook Share
The Oregon Department of Corrections has vaccinated at least 400 of its staff at prisons across the state and could begin administering doses to a limited number of inmates as soon as next week, officials said Friday.
The department received an initial allotment of 400 doses in late December, said spokeswoman Vanessa Vanderzee, and all were administered by the end of 2020 to staff members who came in close contact with COVID-19 positive inmates.
A limited group of inmates who also come into contact with infected people will be eligible for the next round of vaccines, Vanderzee said, though she did not say exactly how many people would be in that group because that number is still in flux. The end result will likely be vaccinations for between 10 and 40 inmates at each of the state’s six largest prisons.