Jail staff want test amid virus worry

ROURKELA: A sense of fear has gripped employees of the special jail here after six of the 31 under-trial prisoners (UTPs) of Rourkela main road area tested positive for coronavirus. The infected prisoners have been kept in a separate cell of the jail.

The 31 UTPs, involved in the violent protest demanding lifting of the containment order, were brought to the jail on June 2 and six of them tested positive on Saturday night. Only 19 of the total 145 jail employees, who had come in contact with the infected prisoners, were tested and found negative. But the rest jail staffers and other prisoners are worried and want to be tested for the virus.

A constable in the jail said though he has not come in direct contact with any of the infected UTPs, he is worried. “As a precautionary measure, I am confining myself to a separate room after returning home and have asked my wife and other family members to always keep safe distance from me,” he said.

A senior jail officer said all prisoners and employees have been subjected to standard safety protocol. However, the Sundargarh administration would be requested to test all 145 employees and some prisoners.
Swab samples of a platoon of police force, which had escorted the 31 UTPs to court and jail, were collected on Sunday. However, personnel of Plant Site police station and cops deployed in Rourkela main road area, which was recently freed of the containment zone tag, and involved in the arrest of the 31 UTPs are yet to be tested.

A policeman said cops engaged in maintaining law and order in the area came in close contact with the protesting mobs. Amid emergence of 34 positive cases from the locality, vulnerable policemen should be tested on a priority basis.DIG (Western Range) Kabita Jalan said she would ensure testing of all policemen deployed in the vulnerable area.