UMATILLA — Two more inmates, who tested positive for COVID-19 in the ongoing outbreak at Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla have died, according to a press release from the Oregon Department of Corrections, raising the death toll among adults in custody at the prison to nine since January began.

The newly reported deaths come as reported cases at the prison continue to spike, with 133 inmates and 17 staff reportedly testing positive between Tuesday, Jan. 12 and Tuesday, Jan. 19, according to ODOC data as of Jan. 19.

Since December 2020, when cases began to surge at TRCI, 575 inmates and 81 staff have reportedly tested positive for COVID-19, according to ODOC data. Four hundred of those inmates and 53 staff have tested positive since the beginning of January.

However, the number of active cases reported among AICs at the prison has recently declined to 138, according to ODOC data as of Wednesday, Jan. 20. The total active cases are still the most among prisons in Oregon.

Both of the inmates who reportedly died after contracting the virus at TRCI were between 70 and 80 years old. Each died at a local hospital, the press release said, with the first on Jan. 20 and the second on Thursday, Jan. 21.

Since the pandemic began, 670 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 at TRCI — more than any prison in Oregon. And among staff, 115 have reportedly tested positive for the virus.