Staff member at Lansing prison dies of COVID-19
A staff member at Lansing Correctional Facility died from the new coronavirus, a Kansas Department of Corrections official confirmed Tuesday.
Further details will be released later in the day, spokeswoman Rebecca Witte said in an email to The Star.
The staff member is the fourth person connected to the Lansing prison to die from the rapidly spreading virus, according to Department of Corrections data. Three inmates at the prison have died during the outbreak.
Lansing is the site of the Kansas prison system’s largest outbreak of COVID-19. Last month, after more than 100 asymptomatic cases of the virus were discovered, the Department of Corrections began testing every inmate and staff member at the prison.
As of Monday, 694 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19. 598 of those inmates showed no symptoms and 64 have recovered. At least 88 staff members have been infected with the virus. Of those, 47 staff members have returned to work.
Cases of the new coronavirus have been detected among staff members or inmates at seven of Kansas’ 10 correctional facilities.
This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 10:11 AM with the headline "Staff member at Lansing prison dies of COVID-19."
