11 prisoners, 3 staff members contract virus at Sabarmati jail

Eleven inmates and three jail

staff members at the Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad have tested positive for coronavirus in the last one week, an official said on Wednesday.

However, none of the 11 prisoners, who include both convicts and undertrials, came in contact with other around 2,500 inmates as they had been already isolated, said Deputy Superintendent of Police, Sabarmati jail, D V Rana.

Three staff members -- two havaldars and one jail sahayak (constable) -- were the latest to test positive for virus, he said.

"We deploy jail staff to frisk incoming prisoners who are kept in isolation area away from the main campus for 14 days. After the test reports of some of these newly-arrived inmates came positive around a week ago, we sent 12 of these jail staffers, who had come in contact with these inmates, to civil hospital for tests on May 4.

 

"Reports of three staffers came positive on Tuesday," said Rana.

Last week, two inmates tested positive for coronavirus. Both were already lodged in the prison's isolation ward upon arrival.

One of them was a murder convict who returned after his parole was over, while the other was a rape accused.

Later, four men, sent to the jail following arrest in a case, also tested positive and sent to civil hospital for treatment, said Rana.

"In the last few days, five convicts, who returned to the jail after completing their parole, also tested positive. In total, 11 prisoners tested positive so far. Luckily, none of them came into contact with others as they were not let inside as per our policy," said Rana.