Tihar is one of the largest prison complexes in South Asia and, currently, it has 14,000 inmates. (File)
Tihar Jail reported its first Covid-19 case, after a 45-year-old assistant superintendent at Jail no. 7 tested positive Sunday.
Delhi Prisons DG Sandeep Goel said the staffer took a holiday on Friday, as he wanted to go home and meet his family. Before leaving, he got tested at Amrapali Hospital on Friday. The results came positive on Sunday. DG Goel said, “He showed no symptoms. He lives in the jail’s staff residential complex.”
Jail authorities soon began tracing the staffer’s contacts. Another staffer, said to have been in close contact with the infected man, has been tested and sent to home quarantine. Nine neighbours of the Covid-positive staffer, who work at different Delhi jails, have been asked to quarantine themselves, though none of them came in contact with him.
Five others — two jail staff and three inmates — were also found to be in contact with him. The staffers have been sent to home quarantine, while the inmates have been shifted to the isolation barrack.
DG Goel said all the men are asymptomatic and authorities will keep a check on everyone’s medical condition.
Tihar is one of the largest prison complexes in South Asia and, currently, it has 14,000 inmates.