June 3, 2021

COVID-19 TDCJ Update

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice regrets to inform you of the death of one inmate connected to the coronavirus.

79-year old Howard Weldon Smith died October 15, 2020, at the Michael Unit in Tennessee Colony. He was assigned to the Estelle Unit in Huntsville when he tested positive for COVID-19 on April 21, 2020. Final autopsy results indicate that in addition to pre-existing medical conditions, COVID-19 was the immediate cause of his death. He had served over 35 years on a life sentence out of Harris County.

In total there have been 551,100 inmate and 240,741 employee tests conducted for COVID-19. Of those tested, 34,663 inmates and 11,761 staff have tested positive for COVID-19 in both symptomatic and asymptomatic testing. There have been 33,239 inmates and 11,378 employees who have recovered. There have been 260 possible COVID deaths in TDCJ (67 of those still under investigation). There have been 48 employee line of duty deaths from COVID-19.

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Helpful Links:

Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) - News Updates COVID-19
Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) - Texas Case Counts Map
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)- Coronavirus (COVID-19)
CDC Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) - World Map
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