More than 300 Hawaii inmates at Arizona prison test positive for coronavirus

Of the 1,011 Hawaii inmates tested on Thursday at the Saguaro Correctional Center, 317 or 31% tested positive for COVID-19, the Department of Public Safety announced in a news release today.

Another 46 (5%) inmates’ results were inconclusive, 73 (7%) are still pending and 575 (57%) tested negative.

The number of active positive cases is 378. These inmates remain in medical isolation at the prison. Six are hospitalized.

One Hawaii inmate at the Eloy, Ariz., private prison, died Thursday, but the official cause of death is pending a medical examiner review, and next of kin notification is underway, Public Safety said in a written statement Friday and provided no further updates today.

Public Safety does not list any deaths at Saguaro attributed to the coronavirus as of today.

Those Hawaii inmates testing negative or with a pending test are being quarantined as a precaution.

All negative inmates will be retested in three to seven days, following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations.

According to Monday’s daily Public Safety update, a total of 1,123 Hawaii inmates have been tested, and 382 have tested positive. Four have recovered.

The inmate who died was found unresponsive in his bed. Prison medical staff called 911 while administering life-saving measures, the Department of Public Safety said.

Eloy EMT arrived onsite at 10:15 a.m., continued CPR, and was pronounced dead at 10:17 a.m.

The facility will conduct an internal investigation and Eloy police were notified.

There are currently 1,081 Hawaii inmates housed at Saguaro.

Public Safety Acting Director Fred Hyun said that Saguaro has no issue with overcrowding, and is able to provide adequate space for isolation and quarantine.