Two inmates from same SC prison die after testing positive for COVID-19, officials say
Two inmates at a South Carolina prison who tested positive for COVID-19 died on back-to-back days last week, according to the Department of Corrections.
Randolph Roy Dogan, 63, and Larry Lee Lewis, 58, were both inmates at Tyger River Correctional Institution who died at an outside hospital, Department of Corrections officials said.
Dogan and Lewis are the 15th and 16th South Carolina prisoners to die after it was confirmed they had the coronavirus, according to the Department of Corrections.
Dogan died Aug. 27, according to a news release. Officials said he had several underlying medical conditions when he tested positive for COVID-19 on July 6.
After being hospitalized on July 7, Dogan was discharged to the infirmary at Lieber Correctional Institution on July 28, and tested negative on Aug. 6, according to the release. In spite of that, Dogan was hospitalized again on Aug. 9 with complications from his illness, the Department of Corrections said.
Lewis tested positive for the coronavirus on July 20, was hospitalized four days later, and died Aug. 28, officials said. The Department of Corrections did not say whether Lewis had any underlying medical conditions.
As of Saturday afternoon, 421 inmates and 35 staff members at Tyger River have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Department of Corrections. The all-male, medium-security prison in Enoree houses the most inmates that have tested positive for the virus of any Department of Corrections facility.
At Tyger River, 133 of the inmates and 33 employees have recovered, according to the Department of Corrections. Testing has been expanded at Tyger River, to ensure that each inmate has been screened at least once, officials said.
Across the 21 prisons in South Carolina operated by the Department of Corrections, there have been 1,506 confirmed cases of the coronavirus among inmates, according to the release. While 665 have recovered, 841 inmates are still active COVID-19 patients, officials said.
The first prisoner in South Carolina to test positive for COVID-19 was reported in April.
Overall, 322 of the 412 Department of Corrections staff members who have tested positive for the coronavirus have been cleared, according to prison officials.
Approximately 5,000 people work at the Department of Corrections, and there are 16,150 inmates in South Carolina.
The Department of Corrections said it’s working closely with the Department of Health and Environmental Control “to ensure proper guidelines and protocols are being followed to safely manage our staff and offenders,” according to the release.
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This story was originally published August 31, 2020 at 11:34 AM with the headline "Two inmates from same SC prison die after testing positive for COVID-19, officials say."
