Virus surge inside Dixon Correctional Center results in 6 inmate deaths

DIXON – A surge of the coronavirus that gripped inmates and staff inside the Dixon Correctional Center last month resulted in the death of six inmates, according to authorities.

The sixth death, a man in his 60's, was Nov. 23, according to Lindsey Hess, public information officer for the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Sauk Valley Media first reported the initial inmate death to COVID-19, a man in his 70′s, was Nov. 6.

The remaining four inmate deaths — two men in their 50's, one man in his 60's and one man in his 70's — all occurred between Nov. 18 and Nov. 22.

All six men died at hospitals outside of the medium-security prison, located at 2600 N. Brinton Ave.

There have been 46 inmate deaths from COVID-19 at Illinois prisons, according to Hess.

No DCC staff have died from the virus, but a contractual employee at the Vienna Correctional Center has died from complications caused by the virus, Hess said.

The six deaths from COVID-19 comes after a wave of new cases last month swept through the facility, one of 36 state prisons that have reported outbreaks of the virus.

According to data posted on the IDOC website and tracked by Sauk Valley Media, the number of total COVID-19 cases among inmates exploded from 55 confirmed cases on Oct. 25 to 455 confirmed cases on Nov. 30.

That same 36-day stretch saw 142 new confirmed cases among DCC staff.

The outbreak appears to have peaked on Nov. 10, when there were 192 active coronavirus cases among inmates and 55 active coronavirus cases among DCC staff.

As of Friday, there are 19 active cases among DCC staff and 74 active cases among inmates.

Since the first DCC staff tested positive for the virus on May 24, and the first inmates tested positive for the virus on Aug. 30, a combined 674 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported.

That total places DCC in the top spot among the 36 IDOC facilities for number of combined confirmed cases reported since the beginning of the pandemic.

Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday said that the reduction in the number of individuals incarcerated in state prisons and people detained in county jails has contributed to an easing of the spread of the virus in all incarceral environments.

"Prison population is down, the jail population has actually come down significantly over the last couple of months as we have transferred more inmates, potential inmates, to prison," Pritzker said. "Overall the population has come down, and that has helped to manage COVID-19 better."

But the slowing spread of the virus inside DCC likely has to do with the fact that a significant number of inmates and staff have tested positive for the virus, according to Lee County Health Department Administrator Cathy Ferguson-Allen.

“But it’s also clear that just like outside the prison, in the community, those in a congregate facility who are most vulnerable to the virus can be the most susceptible to it,” Ferguson-Allen said. “And that’s the same with these inmate deaths.”