Lexington’s 13th COVID-19 death was a federal inmate. City reports 5 new cases
The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department reported one new COVID-19 related death and five new COVID-19 cases Thursday.
The death is the first this week and brings Lexington’s coronavirus death toll up to 13. Fidel Torres, 62, was an inmate at the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, the fourth from the facility to die from the virus, according to Kevin Hall, spokesman for the health department. The Federal Medical Center has had an outbreak among inmates and some staff.
Torres tested positive for COVID-19 on May 2, and he was moved into isolation immediately, the bureau of prisons said. He was admitted to a local hospital on May 6 and placed on a ventilator for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, the bureau of prisons said.
He died Wednesday from septic shock due to pneumonia caused by COVID-19, the bureau of prisons said.
Torres was serving a sentence of about 18 years for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a quantity in excess of 1,000 kilograms of marijuana, according to the bureau of prisons. He had been in the prison’s custody since Aug. 9, 2010.
The five new cases increased Lexington’s total to 587.
The death rate of COVID-19 cases in Lexington is currently 2 percent. Forty-six percent of people who have contracted the virus have been designated fully recovered, according to the health department.
This story was originally published May 21, 2020 at 9:53 AM.