Goose Creek inmate first Alaska prisoner to die from COVID-19

POINT MACKENZIE — An inmate serving a 90-year sentence at Goose Creek Correctional Center died on Sunday at Providence Hospital in Anchorage at 10:56 a.m. after being infected with COVID-19.

As of Friday, November 20, there have been 213 inmates who have tested positive for COVID-19 and four staff members. The 69-year-old inmate who was not set to be released for 26 years is the first Alaska Department of Corrections inmate to die from coronavirus.

“We are doing everything that we can to keep our inmate population safe from covid and keep our staff safe from covid. That’s our main priority so we work every single day really hard to do both of those things,” said DOC Public Information Officer Sarah Gallagher.

There are over 1,300 inmates serving at Goose Creek, Alaska’s largest prison. Currently, four of the housing mods that each hold about 100 prisoners are on quarantine or isolation. The DOC will not be releasing the identity of the inmate who died to protect health information. The inmate had underlying health conditions and had been housed at GCCC since 2006.

“In general overall movement around the facility has been very restricted,” said Gallagher. “Our staff have really been taking all of the precautionary measures possible since the pandemic began, so their temperature is taken every time they report on duty before being allowed to enter the facility. I believe at Goose Creek they are mandated to wear sur