1,200 inmates in UP jails test Covid positive

Lucknow, Sep 28 In the 71 jails across Uttar Pradesh, there are 1,200 inmates who have been infected with Covid-19.

According to Anand Kumar, Director General, Prison Administration and Reform Services, till date about 1,40,000 tests, including (those on) 5,000 staff members, have been conducted in the state's temporary and permanent jails, and over 7,000 had tested positive so far. Two inmates have died of the virus.

The official said that in the past one week, at least 128 prisoners have tested positive for Covid in Fatehgarh Central Jail.

On Saturday, 76 prisoners were found positive and all of them have been kept under isolation in a separate jail barracks for treatment.

Senior Superintendent of Fatehgarh Central Jail S.H.M. Rizvi, said that the first case was reported on September 20 and since then 128 prisoners have been found infected with the disease.

However, none of the patients' health conditions are serious.

Three medical officers have been deployed by the health department inside the prison for monitoring, he added.

The prison in Fatehgarh, at present, has around 2,000 inmates against its capacity of 1,600.

"We are providing 'kadha', hot water and homeopathy medicines to all prisoners as a precaution and masks have been distributed to every prisoner," he said.

Meanwhile, Anand Kumar said that despite the precautionary measures, several prisoners have got infected. "The main reasons are the movement of sick patients outside the jail for treatment, and infection brought in by Covid positive asymptomatic staff," he explained.

( With inputs from IANS )