Authorities reported three additional deaths due to the coronavirus Sunday in Tarrant County, including one man serving a sentence at a North Texas federal prison.
The deaths reported by Tarrant County Public Health included a Kennedale woman in her 80s and a Bedford man in his 50s. Both had underlying health conditions.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons reported the third death.
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Tarrant County added 485 cases of the coronavirus to its total Sunday, 423 of which it said were from the outbreak at Federal Medical Center Fort Worth.
It was not clear what span of time the cases covered, but health department spokesman Richard Hill said the cases did not all arise overnight.
In total, Tarrant County health officials have 477 confirmed cases from the prison in their data, but said they were aware the prison has 636 COVID-19-positive inmates.
“Those numbers will be added once the reports officially become available to us,” Hill said.
On its website, the Federal Bureau of Prisons states that 619 inmates — about 42% of the prison population — and one staff member at FMC Fort Worth have tested positive for COVID-19. Four inmates have recovered.
On Sunday, Guadalupe Ramos became the fifth inmate at the prison to die of the coronavirus, according to the bureau.
Ramos, 56, tested positive April 23 and was placed in isolation. The next day, health services staff saw Ramos for abdominal pain and shortness of breath.
On April 28, Ramos was placed on a ventilator and his condition deteriorated before his death Sunday. The prison said Ramos had long-term preexisting medical conditions that would have put him at risk for developing a more severe case of the disease.
Ramos was sentenced to more 17 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute 1 kilogram or more of heroin. He had been at the Fort Worth facility since Sept. 14, 2017.
The new cases reported by Tarrant County Public Health put the county’s total at 3,695 positive cases and 103 deaths. Of the total, 780 have recovered.
Two cities — Blue Mound and Westover Hills — reported their first cases of COVID-19 on Sunday.
Federal Medical Center Carswell, the North Texas federal prison that houses about 1,600 female offenders with medical needs, has reported one case. A 30-year-old inmate, Andrea Circle Bear, died shortly after giving birth to a baby by C-section while on a ventilator.
*Map locations are approximate, central locations for the city and are not meant to indicate where actual infected people live.
**County totals below include all 32 North Texas counties, not just Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant.
