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About a month back on April 22, 2 nurses operating in the country & s largest jail at Sundhara tested favorable for COVID -19 under the rapid diagnostic test.
The test result sent out a wave of panic among the 25,087 jailbirds, including 773 juveniles and additional 773 infants coping with their moms and dads inside a total of 72 prisons and eight juvenile correction houses across the country.
Fortunately, after 2 days, the 2nd test performed on them through Polymerase Chain Reaction test revealed that both of them had actually not contracted the virus.
Following the occurrence, authorities took another step to suppress possible break out of the contagion by guaranteeing to develop quarantine center inside the prisons.
Since, the Department of Jail Management has established quarantine facilities at Nakkhu Jail and Sundhara Prison inside Kathmandu valley and one at Jhumka Jail of Sunsari district.
All the 3 quarantine centers have the capability to accommodate 30 to 40 beds.
New detainees sent by the court, detainees showing signs of COVID-19 or those who had just recently checked out healthcare facilities due to health concerns have been kept in the quarantine center.
Most of these quarantine centers are occupied by thought clients, according to DoPM authorities.
& Nakkhu quarantine and main prison & s quarantine at Sundhara are already loaded.
We are not sure how we will control the cases if the infection begins dispersing among workers or detainees, & said DoPM Spokesperson Debarshi Sapkota.
While the variety of quarantine facilities are already limited, officials at DoPM have not managed quarantine centers effectively due to lack of space inside the prisons.
The majority of the jails in the country now accommodate practically twice the number of detainees than their real capability.
For instance, the Sundhara-based Jaggannath Dewal Jail —-- likewise the nation & s biggest prison —-- now accommodates more than 3,150 detainees.
This number is much higher than the standard number of around 1,700 detainees it can accommodate.
Jailbirds oversleep cramped conditions.
Numerous choose to sleep together, specifically in winter or in cold locations.
They eat in an unpleasant condition, share restrooms and play together in group.
Authorities fear the illness might spread out like wildfire inside jails if any a jailbirds contracts the infection.
Numerous fresh individuals are imprisoned throughout the country.
Also, if a great deal of jailbirds need to be hospitalised for medical check-up, they are most likely to contract the virus.
Likewise, staffers operating at the jail can likewise contract the virus.
Director General of DoPM Pradipraj Kandel, urged prison staffers and prisoners not to stress as they were working to include the spread of infection inside prisons.
A variation of this short article appears in e-paper on May 26, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.
The post Prisoners at danger of contracting coronavirus in Kathmandu valley appeared first on The Himalayan Times.
