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Female inmate is Virginia prisons' first coronavirus death

The 49-year-old woman had underlying health conditions including asthma and hepatitis. She had been scheduled for release in 2023.

GOOCHLAND, Va. — A female inmate at a central Virginia prison who died in hospital care has become the first fatality in the state prisons linked to the new coronavirus. 

The Virginia Department of Corrections said the 49-year-old woman who was assigned to the Virginia Correctional Center for Women in Goochland died on Tuesday morning. She was taken to a Richmond hospital on April 4 and had been receiving treatment there. 

The woman had underlying health conditions including asthma and hepatitis. She had been scheduled for release in 2023. 

Her death comes as Gov. Ralph Northam is pushing to give the Department of Corrections authority to release nearly 2,000 of the roughly 30,000 inmates in its custody.

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