Second SC inmate dies in two days after testing positive for coronavirus
A second inmate under the South Carolina Department of Corrections has died after testing positive for COVID-19, officials announced Wednesday.
Bryan Furman, 60, was housed at the Allendale Correctional Institution, a medium-security facility. He was hospitalized outside the system May 4 and tested positive for the novel coronavirus on May 5, officials said in a statement. He had underlying health conditions.
Furman’s death comes just a day after SCDC announced the first death of an inmate with COVID-19. James Slater, 70, was also housed at Allendale and also had underlying health conditions, officials said.
Allendale has had eight staff members and 15 inmates test positive for COVID-19, the second highest number of total cases in the corrections system behind only Kirkland Correctional Institution. Allendale has the seventh-highest population of inmates in the system.
In all, 39 inmates of the 17,330 under the state’s corrections system have tested positive. At least 55 staff members have also tested positive. Of those 55 cases, 30 are still active. The first inmate to test positive was announced April 19, at Kirkland. Two days later, SCDC announced the Kirkland facility was under quarantine lockdown after another case was identified.
Because Kirkland is the facility where new inmates are brought before being assigned to a specific institution, the SCDC notified county detention centers and sheriffs at the time that it wouldn’t accept any new male inmates across the system for at least two weeks.
