Rush City inmate who tested positive for COVID-19 dies

An inmate at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Rush City who was diagnosed with COVID-19 died in a Twin Cities hospital Saturday night, the Minnesota Department of Corrections said in a news release.

“We extend our condolences to the family and friends of this man,” DOC Commissioner Paul Schnell said in a statement. “The level of community spread of COVID-19 makes our extensive efforts to minimize the introduction and spread of COVID-19 in the state’s correctional facilities that much more challenging."

The inmate, a 57-year-old man, was being treated at St. Joseph’s Hospital in St. Paul when he died, the news release stated. This is the fifth COVID-related death of a Minnesota inmate this year.

The other deaths include two inmates at MCF-Faribault, and one each at MCF-Oak Park Heights and MCF-Stillwater.

According to the DOC, 49 inmates and 21 staff are currently positive for COVID-19 at the Rush City facility. Two inmates from other facilities are in critical condition and are receiving ventilator treatment at outside hospitals, and several DOC staff members are in the hospital due to COVID-19 complications.

Approximately 700 inmates across DOC facilities have active cases of COVID-19, and 2,258 inmates have recovered from the illness. About 5,600 inmates have been tested for the coronavirus over the past two weeks, according to DOC data.

A total of 756 DOC staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 thus far, and 493 of them have returned to work.