A third South Mississippi prison has COVID-19 as more cases reported at 2 others
South Mississippi Correctional Institute in Leakesville is the latest lockup near the Coast to report a case of COVID-19 while the number of new cases climbed slightly at regional jails in Stone and George counties.
So far, the Leakesville prison has one inmate who has tested positive for the new coronavirus, according to officials at the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
Two other South Mississippi jails that house local, state and federal offenders have reported outbreaks among prisoners.
In Stone County, Sheriff Mike Farmer said five inmates, 11 jail guards, a deputy and himself have tested positive for the virus. Results are pending for two other inmates who started showing symptoms and were just tested.
“We are not testing every inmate, just the ones that are sick,” Farmer said. “Everybody who is sick is quarantined. We’ve got the maintenance shops and vo-tech (vocational-technical) classes on lockdown. We are trying to be as careful as we possibly can.”
The largest outbreak to date at a Mississippi correctional facility occurred at the George County Regional Correctional Facility in Lucedale, where the total number of cases has climbed slightly from 230 to 235 cases.
The majority of those inmates have recovered, according to the MDOC.
However, one of the George County inmates, Carl Shane Cox, 48, was rushed to George County Regional Medical Center after he started having problems breathing earlier this month. At the hospital, he tested positive for the new coronavirus and his condition deteriorated until his Aug. 8 death.
George County Coroner DeeAnn Murrah said Thursday that an autopsy performed by the state Medical Examiner’s Office in Jackson showed that Cox died of COVID-19-induced pneumonia.
The sheriffs and MDOC officials say they are taking precautions and disinfecting the facilities to try to prevent any further spread of the virus.
In addition, all inmates and staff are required to wear masks.
Those prisoners who test positive for the virus are being quarantined away from the other inmates to try to prevent other prisoners from catching the coronavirus.
