Jharsuguda: As many as 68 prisoners tested positive for Covid 19 at the Jharsuguda sub-jail on Saturday, jail authorities said.
Jail officials had collected 182 swab samples in four phases from the inmates after some of them developed Covid symptoms. The jail officials received some reports today in which 68 were found positive.
The infected inmates have been lodged in separate wards to prevent further spread of the infection inside the jail, official said.
“Swabs from 182 prisoners had been collected on May 1 and 2 and again on May 5 and 6. Out of them 68 were found infected with the virus. They have been kept under isolation in separate wards in the jail. Necessary medical assistance is being provided to them,” said jailor Debendra Tharty.
Contact tracing is going on. More testing may be carried out if required, he added.
The jail houses total 280 prisoners currently, he added.
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After detection of the cases, the jail premises have been sanitized.
As many as 48 inmates at Berhampur circle jail were found positive yesterday. They are being provided treatment at a covid care centre on the jail premises.
Earlier, more than 40 prisoners had tested positive for the virus at Patnagarh sub jail in Bolangir district. Similarly, 21 covid cases had been detected among the prisoners at Udala sub-jail in Mayrubhanj district six days ago.
Notably, the Supreme Court had issued prison decongestion instructions on May 8 and ordered the immediate release of prisoners who were granted bail or parole due to the pandemic crisis.
Meanwhile, the State on Saturday recorded 11, 805 new Covid positive cases with 21 deaths which had been reported in last 24 hours. With the fresh single-day cases, the State’s total case count has crossed 6 lakh mark. Similarly, the fatalities has gone up to 2294 in Odisha.