Rohini Jail's inmate tests coronavirus positive; 20 others including 5 staff quarantined (Representational image)
An inmate of Rohini Jail in Delhi has tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday. According to Delhi Prisons DG Sandeep Goel, this is the first case of an inmate at a Delhi prison testing positive. Goel said: “The inmate was admitted at Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital for an intestine surgery on May 10. He was tested for the virus there."
Dr. A K Mehta, medical superintendent of DDU hospital, said, “He was operated on May 11 morning for perforation peritonitis. His Covid-19 test result was made available to us today. He has been transferred to Lok Nayak.”
According to Jail officials, 20 other inmates and 5 jail staff have been quarantined. “All the people we have so far traced will be tested,” said Goel, clarifying that the inmate did not return to the jail premises after the surgery.
On May 10, the inmate was rushed to DDU hospital as he complained of stomachache. “Our doctors were checking on him; he complained of stomachache but did not show any Covid-19 symptoms. He was taken to DDU hospital where a surgery was recommended, and the inmate underwent that,” said a jail official.
The 28-year-old, a resident of South Delhi’s Sangam Vihar, is an undertrial and accused in three criminal cases — attempt to murder, robbery, and causing hurt. “He has been at the Rohini Jail for under a year; before that, he was at another jail in the city,” said a senior jail official.
In Mumbai, over 180 Covid-19 positive cases of inmates and staffers of Arthur Road Jail was reported, while one woman inmate tested positive at Byculla Jail.
Meanwhile, in Delhi, three inmates at Tihar Jail were quarantined after one of them, a rape accused, was found to have been in contact with a Covid-19 person. Jail authorities said that they had received information that the victim in the rape case had tested positive. The accused and his cellmates were quarantined, and their result came back negative.
(With inputs from ANI)
