Ten inmates test Covid-19 positive in Agra Central Jail, 102 others to be tested

Earlier, an inmate of the same prison had tested positive for Covid-19 on May 6. It is believed that the ten prisoners who have tested positive were in close contact with this same coronavirus positive prisoner, according to jail authorities.

Ten inmates of the Agra Central Jail tested positive for Covid-19 after being in close contact with another coronavirus positive prisoner, Uttar Pradesh Director General of Prisons Anand Kumar said on Wednesday.

Earlier, an inmate of the same prison had tested positive for Covid-19 on May 6. It is believed that the ten prisoners who have tested positive were in close contact with this same coronavirus positive prisoner, according to jail authorities.

At least, 98 to 102 other inmates of the barrack to which these Covid-19 positive prisoners belonged in the Agra Central Jail will also be tested for the disease.

In Maharashtra, a 54-year-old inmate of the Byculla Women’s Jail had tested positive for Covid-19 earlier on Sunday.

According to Byculla jail authorities, the woman’s first test result on May 8 was negative but the second test conducted on May 9 returned positive. She is under treatment at St George’s Hospital, they added.

In Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail, around 185 inmates have been found infected with the deadly coronavirus and are undergoing treatment.

The Maharashtra government has decided to give temporary parole to 17,000 inmates out of 35,000 prisoners so that they do not get infected with the virus inside jails. For the remaining prisoners, jail authorities are trying to maintain social distancing guidelines so that there is no further spread of the disease.

In April, when the Covid-19 pandemic had started spreading across the country, the Supreme Court had directed states to decongest jails in order to avoid the spread of the infection among prisoners.