Prison guard dies of COVID

Gilbert Polanco, Army veteran who worked at San Quentin, was hospitalized in July.

A guard at San Quentin State Prison died Sunday morning of complications from COVID-19.

Sgt. Gilbert Polanco, an Army veteran, was admitted to a San Jose hospital in early July and had been on life support, ABC7 News reported. Polanco had worked at San Quentin since 1988.

There have been 261 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among staff members at San Quentin, but Polanco is the first correctional officer there to die from the illness, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

At least 24 inmates at the facility have died of COVID-19 in an outbreak that has been linked to the transfer of inmates to San

Quentin from a state prison in Chino. San Quentin inmate Pedro Arias, 58, who had been on death row since 1990 for first-degree murder, died Sunday at a hospital from what appeared to be COVID-19, officials said.

Polanco is the ninth employee of the California prison system to die of the disease.

“Sgt. Gilbert Polanco demonstrated unwavering commitment and bravery as a peace officer working the front line every day during this devastating pandemic. His memory is carried on in the hearts of all the men and women who continue to battle this deadly virus at San Quentin,” Ron Broomfield, acting warden at the prison, said in a statement Sunday.

A GoFundMe campaign for Polanco’s family has raised more than $66,000.