TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th April, 2020) An inmate in the province of British Columbia has become the first Canadian prisoner to die of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) complications, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) said in a statement.
"On April 15, 2020, an inmate from Mission Institution died at Abbotsford Regional Hospital as an apparent result of complications related to COVID-19," the statement released on Thursday said. "This is the first death related to COVID-19 among federally sentenced inmates."
The Mission Institution located in Mission, BC, has become the scene of the country's largest COVID-19 outbreak at a correctional facility. There are 48 cases of COVID-19 at the minimum-security prison, including seven individuals that have been hospitalized.
"We continue to look at options to see what further measures can be taken to ensure that inmates, staff, and our communities are as safe and healthy as possible during this crisis," Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said, echoing earlier statements made to Sputnik by the CSC regarding the possible release of low-risk offenders amid the pandemic.
Civil liberties advocacy groups, most notably the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, have argued that closed quarter environments like prisons are breeding grounds for highly infectious diseases like COVID-19 and stressed the need for the release of low-risk offenders.
A number of US jurisdictions, including New York City and the state of New Jersey, have announced that they will release certain inmates serving time for non-violent offenses.
According to 2018 Canadian government data, there are 38,786 adults in provincial/territorial or Federal custody on a given day.
As of Thursday, Canada has registered a total of 29,826 COVID-19 cases and 1,048 deaths related to the disease, according to the country's chief medical officer.
