A third inmate at the federal prison in Oakdale, Louisiana, died Wednesday from coronavirus, according to a Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman.
Three inmates at the low-security prison have now died from the virus, including two on Wednesday.
No details about the inmate were immediately available, the BOP said. All three deaths in the federal prison system have so far occurred at the Louisiana facility, which houses 980 male offenders.
Number of infected prisoners growing: As of Wednesday, 57 federal inmates have been officially diagnosed with coronavirus — up from 28 on Monday — in addition to 37 BOP staff members.
Wednesday also saw the first day of a heightened state of lockdown at the nation’s 122 federal prisons. Under a new BOP protocol, the fifth phase of its Covid-19 Action Plan, inmates began a two-week period confined in their cells with limited exceptions for education programs, health treatment and some prison services.
