The total number of positive cases in the state reached 24,095, including 785 new cases in the last 24 hours. (Proceedings)
With nearly 500 new inmates added to state jails every day, Madhya Pradesh announced Tuesday that the new prisoners will be brought to the main jail facilities only after they test negative for COVID.
“A rapid antigen test will be performed on each new participant to ensure that the underground plant receives treatment and that others are not infected. Until now, new inmates used to be screened with heat guns and pulse oximeters, but there was no definitive proof, “DG (Jail) Sanjay Chaudhary told The Indian Express.
The decision was made a day after 64 of the 82 prisoners in the Bareli sub-jail in the Raisen district tested positive. Three guards also tested positive.
Like all other prisons, Bareli was also crowded. The infection was brought in by new prisoners. Forty-one of the 64 who tested positive were transferred to Vidisha for treatment and the rest were quarantined in Raisen prison.
The Minister of the Interior and the prison, Narottam Mishra, suspended the superintendent of the Bareli sub-prison, Vinay Gadhwal, with immediate effect, holding him responsible for the delay.
More than 50 prisoners had tested positive in Indore alone with small jails that also reported cases. Up to 9,000 convicts and juveniles in prison were released on parole and on bail following the pandemic considering the Supreme Court’s guidelines for reducing prison overcrowding.
Meanwhile, the total number of positive cases in the state reached 24,095, including 785 new cases in the past 24 hours.
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