West Virginia’s 4th Editing Staff Dies of COVID-19 – CBS Pittsburgh

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — An officer at a West Virginia prison has become the fourth corrections officer to die from the coronavirus, including the second this year, authorities said Monday.

Western Regional Prison Cpl. Christopher Scarberry had been hospitalized with the virus since December and died Sunday, the state Department of Homeland Security said in a press release.

Scarberry has served her sentence at the Cabell County jail since 2018.

“Christopher, I promise you, we won’t forget you,” Governor Jim Justice said during Monday’s regular COVID-19 briefing.

Lakin Correctional Center officer Paula Jo Tomlin died of COVID-19 on January 22. The other two officers who died last year were from Saint Marys Correctional Center in Pleasants County and the Northern Regional Jail. in Marshall County.

According to state health data, there were 915 active cases of the virus among inmates and residents of correctional facilities as of Monday along with 234 cases involving correctional officers, according to state health data.

The number of people hospitalized with the virus fell to 994 on Monday after hitting a record 1,097 last Wednesday.

28 of the other 31 virus deaths reported as of Friday and read by Justice are aged 65 or older. Nine people in their 80s and 90s.

“This is stalking our elders,” Justice said, echoing calls for people to get vaccinated against the virus. “If we don’t give the injections, those people are in real danger.”

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