With a sudden surge of 475 fresh Covid-19 cases in the past five days, the total tally in Uttar Pradesh prisons mounted to 614. Taking cognizance of the spike, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath instructed officials to set up new temporary jails in order to contain the spread of virus amid inmates.
According to senior jail officials, 475 inmates and jail staff tested Covid-19 positive in the last five day this includes- Jhansi jail- 210 inmates, Ballia jail- 228 inmates, Azamgarh jail- 25 inmates, Lucknow jail- eight inmates and Etah jail- four inmates.
Adityanath convened a meeting in connection with the surge on Sunday, where he instructed officials to keep new prisoners in temporary jails, and proper arrangements should be made to save cops on duty from the infection. While officials returning from leaves should be tested.
“We are taking all the precautions and efforts are underway to curb the spread by regular sanitization of the barracks and other parts of the jail along with regular screening. Out of those found infected with Covid-19, most of the asymptomatic inmates were kept in separate barracks. Meanwhile, 48 inmates from permanent and 67 from temporary jails were admitted to L1 COVID hospitals,” said Santosh Kumar, spokesperson of prison headquarters, Lucknow.
As per government orders dated, new prisoners were lodged in temporary jails for a quarantine period of 14 days before shifting them to permanent jails. And so far, around 13,000 inmates across jails in Uttar Pradesh have been released on parole in an attempt to decongest the jails.
