Idaho inmate with COVID-19 dies at Boise hospital

BOISE — The Idaho Department of Correction "with great sadness" on Wednesday reported the death of an incarcerated man hospitalized in Boise with COVID-19.

This is the first inmate death in Idaho related to COVID-19, department spokesman Jeff Ray confirmed.

Frank Dawson Conover, one day shy of 66, was transported from Idaho State Correctional Center near Kuna to a Boise hospital on July 22 for emergency treatment.

While at the hospital, he tested positive for COVID-19 while being treated for other serious underlying health conditions.

Conover was pronounced dead at the hospital at 4:49 a.m. Wednesday.

Conover was convicted on drug possession and trafficking charges in Nez Perce County with sentences to be fulfilled in 2022 and 2032, according to IDOC's website. He would have been eligible for parole in 2022.

Idaho prisons saw their first confirmed case of COVID-19 on June 24.

As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, 2,028 state prisoners in Idaho have been tested for COVID-19, according to the correction department's website. Of those, 60 were positive with symptoms, 218 were positive without symptoms, 121 are still pending, and 503 are inactive — meaning positive cases that have either been medically cleared or have been released from custody.