Gorakhpur: As many as 123 inmates of the Basti jail and three prison staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 10 days, an official said on Monday.
“A barrack has been turned into an L-1 hospital where infected jail inmates have been isolated and they are being monitored by a team of doctors, while the three jail staff members have been home quarantined,” Jailor Satish Chandra Tripathi said.
“During test for COVID-19 on January 1, January 13 and January 14, no jail staff or inmate was found coronavirus positive. But between January 15 and 24, as many as 123 inmates and three staff members were found positive for the infection. Twenty inmates have been discharged so far and they are under supervision for a week,” Tripathi said.
“On January 15, among 67 inmates, 12 tested positive for the coronavirus. On January 16, among 39 inmates, seven tested positive. On January 21, among 95 inmates, 29 tested positive. On January 22, among 85 inmates, 44 tested positive. On January 23, among 87 inmates, 27 tested positive. On January 24, among 46 jail staff, three tested positive for the infection,while four prison inmates who had gone for appearance in a court were also found to be COVID-19 positive,” he added.