HONOLULU – The death of a male Saguaro Correctional Center inmate, over 65-years old, is being classified by an Arizona medical examiner as a COVID-19-related death. This is the second death of an inmate classified by medical examiners as COVID-19-related. No additional information is being provided to protect individual medical privacy.

The Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona has zero (0) active positive inmate cases. The last two (2) positive inmate cases were medically cleared on January 4.

“We take the health and safety of all those who are incarcerated in our facilities seriously, and that includes our contracted prison,” said Max Otani, PSD Director. “On top of the monitoring and testing, the Saguaro staff assured PSD that the facility will continue to implement stringent sanitation and hygiene measures to limit potential exposure and mitigate the spread of coronavirus to inmates and staff.”

For more information on Saguaro Correctional Center operations and CoreCivic’s COVID-19 procedure please go to CoreCivic’s COVID-19 web page: https://www.corecivic.com/en/corecivic-statement-on-covid-19-prevention

For more information on PSD’s planning and response to COVID-19, inmate testing data, and information detailing the efforts made to safeguard the inmates, staff and public, visit our webpage at: http://dps.hawaii.gov/blog/2020/03/17/coronavirus-covid-19-information-and-resources/. The Department of Public Safety (PSD) has also established an information hotline with recorded updates on the Saguaro testing at: 808-587-1421.