The Texas Department of Criminal Justice reported Wednesday that 48 inmates at the Barry Telford Unit in New Boston, Texas, have tested positively for the COVID-19 coronavirus and that 13 staff at the prison have tested positively also.
“The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is saddened to learn of the death of an offender that may be related to the COVID-19 virus. On April 9, 2020, 60-year-old offender Johnny Davis was transported from the Telford Unit in New Boston to a local hospital for treatment. A test for COVID-19 revealed he was positive for the virus. On April 11th, Davis was transferred from Texarkana to Hospital Galveston. On Tuesday, April 14, 2020, Davis, who had pre-existing medical conditions, was pronounced deceased by hospital staff. Davis’ family declined to have an autopsy performed, however COVID-19 is believed to have caused his death. Davis was serving a 10 year sentence for obstruction/retaliation out of Hunt County. He began his sentence in October 2016,” TDCJ reported Wednesday.
“In all there have been 138 TDCJ employees, staff or contractors and 284 offenders in custody who have tested positive for COVID-19.”
TDCJ is reporting that Telford has 7 inmate tests pending, nine inmates have tested negatively, 1,121 inmates are in medical restriction and 55 inmates are in medical isolation.
TDCJ’s website states that medical isolation is “For people who are sick and contagious. Isolation is used to separate ill persons who have a communicable disease from those who are healthy. Isolation restricts the movement of ill persons to help stop the spread of disease.”
The website states that medical restriction is “Used to separate and restrict the movement of well persons who may have been exposed to a communicable disease to see if they become ill. These people may have been exposed to a disease and do not know it, or they may have the disease but do not show symptoms. Medical restriction can help limit the spread of disease.”
TDCJ updates the number of infected inmates daily by unit. Telford and other units where the virus has been found in staff and/or inmates are on lockdown and only staff who work on the unit may enter the facility.
The number of inmates who test positively at Telford are not included in the number of cases reported in Bowie County.
