3rd WA state prison inmate dies from COVID. This time in Walla Walla
A third Washington inmate has died of complications from COVID-19.
Washington State Penitentiary inmate, 62-year-old Michael Cornethan, died on Saturday, the Department of Corrections announced.
Cornethan was housed in the Walla Walla facility’s medium security facility and was serving a life sentence on a aggravated murder conviction for killing a King County woman in 1983.
He was transported to a medical facility Nov. 20 for treatment of the coronavirus and other health conditions, the release said.
Earlier this year, two Coyote Ridge Corrections Center inmates in Connell died of COVID — 72-year-old William Bryant and 68-year-old Victor Bueno.
A 65-year-old correctional officer at the Monroe Correctional Complex who died in May, is the only staff member working in the state prisons reported to have died from the pandemic.
Cornethan’s death follows recent COVID outbreaks at the Coyote Ridge and Walla Walla prisons. Those two have had more cases than any other prison in the state system.
The Monroe Correctional Complex is the the closest with 65 inmate cases. Monroe and Coyote Ridge are about the same size, each can house around 2,400.
The department said on Sunday that at the Washington State Penitentiary, there were 38 employees with COVID and 100 active confirmed cases in inmates — although the correction’s COVID site shows there have been a total of 217 cases overall during the pandemic.
A news release said that 117 inmates with symptoms were in isolation and an additional 559 inmates in medium security were in quarantine after being exposed to someone with COVID-19. There are 2,439 incarcerated inmates across all custody levels that include maximum, close, medium and minimum.
As of Monday, 292 inmates have tested positive for COVID as have 108 staff members at Coyote Ridge north of Tri-Cities in Connell.
A department spokesperson told the Herald that as of Friday, 255 inmates were on quarantine in the minimum security unit and 57 inmates currently have COVID. Updated numbers were note immediately available Monday.