Elkton Inmate Tested for COVID-19 after Death

ELKTON, OHIO — A 53-year-old inmate from the federal prison here died Thursday at a local hospital where he was taken after becoming ill at the Scroggs Road facility, and tests are pending to determine if he suffered from COVID-19.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, inmate Woodrow Taylor was evaluated by prison medical staff Tuesday then was transported to the hospital for further treatment and evaluation after he experienced shortness of breath and inability to maintain sufficient oxygen saturation.Taylor’s condition quickly declined, and he was placed on a ventilator, but died Thursday, according to a release from the Bureau of Prisons. Taylor had long-term, pre-existing medical conditions listed by the Center of Disease Control as risk factors for developing severe COVID-19, and he was tested at the hospital for the virus, but test results were pending at the time of his death, officials reported.

Prison officials did not report to which county hospital Taylor was transported.

Taylor was serving a 60-month sentence for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and had been in custody at the Elkton facility since April 29, 2019.

Calls to the prison were not answered. The Bureau of Prisons website listed Thursday two positive cases of COVID-19 among prisoners at the Elkton facility but no positive cases among staff members.

Columbiana County Health Department spokesman Laura Fauss said Thursday the death at the prison had not yet been reported to the department’s database so they had been unaware until contacted by the media.

The county health department reported Thursday morning a total of 23 positive cases of COVID-19, including two deaths of residents.

The positive cases in the county include 14 males and nine females.

According to Fauss, the laboratory at the Ohio Department of Health has tested specimens from 64 Columbiana County residents, 30 of whom tested negative, 23 positive and 11 pending.

“We are aware of additional tests that have been sent to private laboratories from local medical personnel, however, statistics related to these tests are only reported to the county if they result positive,” Fauss said.

As data has been collected, the health department has started to design some graphs and modeling, which it hopes to release next week, Fauss added.

East Liverpool City Hospital, which had been reporting no positive cases of COVID-19, released a video Thursday in which Chief Medical Officer Dr. Gretchen Nickell reported the hospital had one case. In a subsequent East Liverpool City Hospital Facebook post, it was stated the hospital wanted to notify the community it had recently tested and confirmed it now has “positive cases of COVID-19 within our facility.”

Late Thursday the hospital clarified that it is treating two patients who have tested positive for COVID-19.

Posted at top: Aerial view of the federal prison at Elkton in Columbiana County. Image from inmateaid. com.

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