School to house prison inmates to thwart threat from Covid-19

Nagpur: Mount Carmel, a well-known girls’ school at Ajni square, has been earmarked as a temporary extension of the Nagpur Central Jail to house new inmates for a period of 14 days before being tested for Covid-19. It would house around 200-300 inmates till June 30.
With a substantial number of Yerawada and Arthur Road jail inmates found Covid positive, it’s learnt that the pandemic threat compelled the district collector’s office to create a new facility to accommodate the fresh inmates of the Nagpur jail to stop any viral infection from spreading in the barracks, like elsewhere in the state.
In the past, ‘Mangalmurti Lawn’, a hall near the gate of the jail on Wardha Road, was converted into a mini prison. Maintaining covid distancing, the jail authorities could accommodate only 30 inmates here. As the authorities ran out of space in no time, the school was provided as an alternative by the district administration.
Superintendent of central jail Anup Kumar Kumre said the inmates are being brought after Covid screening by the police. They would be tested again at the school after 14 days. After that, the inmates would be shifted to the prison’s quarantine facility for another 14 days in case their samples are found to be negative.
“We are taking utmost precaution to ensure that the virus does not enter the premises at any cost. So far, we have been successful in this endeavour. Anyone found positive would be shifted to the hospital from the school itself,” said Kumre, who himself is isolated with his colleagues inside the jail premises till June 30.