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Tenth incarcerated person dies after COVID-19 positive test

The new "Hickory" wing containing 192 new beds is the latest phase of expansion at the Gunnison Prison which is nearing completion with the use of state-allocated funds. Photo by Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune 8/18/2008

  | Dec. 17, 2020, 4:29 a.m.
| Updated: 4:37 a.m.

A 71-year-old incarcerated man who had tested positive for COVID-19 died Tuesday night, according to the Utah Department of Corrections.

The man had been living at the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison but was hospitalized before his death, the Department of Corrections said in a Facebook post. He is the tenth incarcerated person to die after contracting COVID-19 in Utah and the first one from the Gunnison facility to die. There are currently 1,193 COVID cases among state inmates, according to the Department of Corrections.

Prison officials were able to keep COVID-19 out for months, but the disease got into state prisons in October and has been a problem since. Prisoners and their family members have said the state isn’t doing enough to help sick people. One prisoner told The Salt Lake Tribune that when he tested positive he was put in a cell with another sick prisoner but didn’t see a doctor or get his temperature checked.