Aurangabad: As many as 14 staff members of the Harsul jail in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad district tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday, a prison official said.
Earlier, 29 undertrial prisoners of the jail had tested positive for the disease following which samples of the prison’s administration staff were sent for testing.
Reports of 14 jail staff members, including two officers, came out positive on Wednesday, a senior prison official said.
All the new patients are asymptomatic and they have been quarantined at facilities set up in the jail premises, the official said.
They are being monitored by health teams of the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation, he said.
“Since the lockdown came into force, nearly 60 staff members of the jail administration have been on duty in the premises for almost two months. The main gate of the jail will be opened on Wednesday evening (as part of lockdown easing),” jail superintendent Hiralal Jadhav told PTI.
Meanwhile, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Aurangabad rose to 2,264 on Wednesday after 114 more people tested positive for the disease, a district official said.
So far, 116 patients have died in the district while 1,283 have been discharged after recovery.
As of now, 865 patients are undergoing treatment, the official said.