MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama prison system says that a third inmate has died after testing positive for COVID-19 as the number of cases among inmates and staff continued to rise.
Clarence Shepherd, an 80-year-old inmate at St. Clair Correctional Facility died Friday after testing positive for coronavirus. The prison system said a total of 119 staff and contract workers and 28 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. Twenty-nine of those staff members have ruturned to work.
Inmate advocates and health experts have expressed concerns that the state’s overcrowded prisons would become a breeding ground for a deadly outbreak and urged the state to make additional changes.