DOVER — The Department of Correction announced Monday that an 11th inmate has died from issues related to COVID-19.
The deceased, 55-year-old Charles Patterson, was the last inmate at Sussex Correctional Institution in Georgetown with an active case of coronavirus. SCI saw a large outbreak earlier this year.
The agency said Patterson died from complications stemming from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes and hypertension. He had been imprisoned since 2016 on a six-year sentence for seventh-offense driving under the influence.
He tested positive for the virus July 6 after the agency administered testing of all inmates at SCI following the initial identification of a cluster of cases. Patterson was admitted to the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center, near Smyrna, and on July 12, to Bayhealth Hospital, Kent Campus.
His condition continued to deteriorate, and he was placed in comfort care. He was officially pronounced dead Monday at 8:11 a.m.
Three hundred seventy-eight inmates at SCI who tested positive in July have recovered. Of the 11 inmates who have died, four were initially housed at SCI, with the rest at Vaughn.
