New Delhi: Five more inmates of Mandoli Jail have tested positive for COVID-19, prison officials said on Sunday.
With this, the number of COVID-positive inmates in the jails under the Delhi Prison department went up to 45, they said.
The Tihar, Mandoli and Rohini jails come under the Delhi Prison department.
After an inmate at Central Jail number 14 of Mandoli Jail died of COVID-19 on June 15, 29 other inmates who shared the barrack with him were tested for the disease and the results of 17 came positive, a senior jail official said.
Three of the five inmates who recently tested positive for the virus were kept in isolation with nine others, who had tested negative for the disease after the death of the inmate with whom they had shared the barrack in Central Jail number 14.
“Since the three inmates were old, we got them tested again for the coronavirus and the reports came positive this time. An inmate of Central Jail number 11 and another of Central Jail number 12 were not keeping well, so they were also tested for the virus and the reports came positive,” the official said.
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Director General (Delhi Prisons) Sandeep Goel said all the five inmates, who have tested positive for the coronavirus, were kept in isolation under continuous medical supervision.
With the new cases, the number of jail inmates who have tested positive for the deadly virus has gone up to 45. Of them, 17 have recovered and one has died. Among the prison staff, 75 have tested positive for COVID-19 so far and 15 have recovered from the disease, Goel said.
Kanwar Singh, lodged in Central Jail number 14, Mandoli, died in his sleep on June 15. After his test report for COVID-19 came positive, 29 inmates who had shared the barrack with him were tested for the virus, officials said.
