Wayne County, NC – The Wayne County Health Department has received notification of two additional COVID-19 related deaths that occurred yesterday, bringing the total number of deaths to eight. One individual was in their late seventies with underlying health conditions and was housed at Neuse Correctional Institute. The second individual was from a congregate living facility and was in their early seventies with underlying health conditions.
“Any death is a tragedy, and we are doing our best to try and flatten the curve of COVID-19 in Prisons,” said Todd Ishee, Commissioner of Prisons. “The health and safety of the staff and the men and women in our custody is of the utmost importance.”
As of today, the Wayne County Health Department is tracking 607 positive COVID-19 cases in our county. We experienced a spike in cases after proactive testing was completed by the North Carolina Department of Public Safety at Neuse Correctional Institute. Currently, 465 of our positive cases are offenders inside NCI.
Interim Health Director Ken Stern said, “We continue to see the effects of COVID-19 on our community. Sadly, we know that we will continue to see more positive cases, and perhaps more deaths, as testing continues and this virus continues to spread. Everyone can do their part to lower the curve by practicing social distancing, practicing proper hand hygiene, and staying home if you are sick.”
The Wayne County Health Department continues to provide daily updates to case numbers via our data dashboard at www.waynegov.com/coronavirus.