Medical examiner: ‘Elderly’ Broward jail inmate died of COVID-19

FORT LAUDERDALE — A Broward County Jail inmate has died of COVID-19.

The Broward Medical Examiner ’s Office has determined that an “elderly male” inmate — whose name was not disclosed — died Sept. 20 after testing positive for the coronavirus, the Broward Sheriff ’s Office said Friday.

The inmate was arrested in 2018 and was held in the Broward Main Jail. He showed no signs of COVID-19 until his unit was quarantined in late August.

He tested positive for the virus on Sept. 7, and was taken to Broward Health North medical center where he was treated and evaluated for 12 days, authorities said.

The hospital returned the inmate to the North Broward jail

Sept. 19 where he was placed in the infirmary in a single-person medical observation cell.

He died the next mo rning. Sheriff ’s officials said they received cause-of-death results from the Medical Examiner’s Office earlier this week.

The Medical Examiner’s Office noted that the inmate suffered from a preexisting medical condition.

The inmate’s identity and arrest details are being withheld in order to protect his medical privacy, sheriff ’s officials said. An investigation showed there were no signs of foul play.