Mississippi prison system confirms its first case of COVID-19

Associated Press

5 years ago

FILE - In this May 19, 2010, file photograph, traffic moves past the front of the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, Miss. Another Mississippi inmate died at the hands of a fellow inmate, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020, this time, at the penitentiary, bringing the death toll to four amid disturbances over the past week in the state prison system. The violence comes even as a federal judge has rejected claims that conditions in one Mississippi prison are unconstitutionally harsh. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Department of Corrections announced its first coronavirus case in one of the state prisons.

The department said Monday that an inmate at the State Penitentiary at Parchman was found to have had the virus after he died.

It did not say when he died, but it did say he had other health problems.

The Health Department says Monday that Mississippi has at least 2,942 confirmed cases and 98 deaths from the virus.

The mayor of Greenville says people won’t have to pay $500 tickets issued at drive-up church services. The city banned such services to control spread of the virus.