Pregnant South Dakota woman with COVID-19 dies in federal prison

A pregnant inmate whose baby was delivered by cesarean section while she was on a ventilator after being hospitalized for coronavirus symptoms has died in federal custody.

The Bureau of Prisons says 30-year-old Andrea Circle Bear died Tuesday. She was hospitalized for about a month. The South Dakota woman is the 29th federal inmate to die in Bureau of Prisons custody since late March.

Officials say she began exhibiting symptoms of the new coronavirus in late March, was hospitalized and put on a ventilator. Her baby was delivered by C-section the next day.

She was serving a 26-month sentence for maintaining a drug-involved premises.