72 of 80 Covid +ve prisoners of Jammu jail have recovered: Official

Jammu, October 12

Seventy-two of the 80 prisoners of the district jail here in Amphalla, who had tested positive for Covid over a fortnight ago, have recovered, an official said on Monday as the authorities started retesting inmates and staff for the virus.

With 83 positive cases — 80 prisoners and three staff members — the jail had the highest number of Covid cases among prisons in the Jammu region of the union territory.

It was followed by 51 positive cases in the Kathua district jail, 50 in Rajouri district jail, 24 in Bhaderwah jail in Doda district and four in Central Jail in Kot Bhalwal in Jammu.

“Out of the 80 prisoners, who tested positive for Covid-19 over a fortnight back, 72 have been cured after successful treatment,” Jammu District Jail Superintendent Mirza Saleem Ahmad Beig said.

Retesting exercise in the jail started this morning, he said, adding that the three staff members, who had been found positive for the disease earlier, tested negative this time.

However, Beig said in the fresh retesting drive 10 prisoners, including two new inmates, were found positive. They were asymptomatic and being provided necessary treatment, the Superintendent said.

He said precautions had been taken to prevent the spread of the Covid.

Meanwhile, a police official said a 75-year-old prisoner from the Bhaderwah jail in Doda district died of Covid at a hospital here, which was also, incidentally, the first death among prisoners lodged in different jails in the Jammu region.

The elderly prisoner, who was facing murder charge, had tested positive for Covid last month and was shifted to the Government Medical College and Hospital here. He breathed his last on Sunday, the official said.

He said the deceased was suffering from various ailments, including diabetes and hypertension. — PTI