The number of prisoners to have died in England and Wales after contracting coronavirus has risen to nine, according to internal figures seen by BBC News.
They include three inmates from Littlehey jail, Cambridgeshire, and a female offender from Low Newton prison, in County Durham.
The others had been held at Birmingham prison; HMP Manchester; Altcourse, in Merseyside; Belmarsh, in south-east London; and Whatton jail, Nottinghamshire.
Overall, 107 prisoners have tested positive for the virus across 38 prisons in England and Wales – about one-third of the total.
Around 1,300 inmates are self-isolating with symptoms of the virus, and 7,200 prison staff are absent for reasons related to Covid-19, with 19 having tested positive.
At the weekend, the Government announced that up to 4,000 prisoners would be released early to free up space in jails so inmates could be held in single cells to reduce the spread of the infection.
BBC
