Scare as 9 Nagpur jail personnel test corona positive

NAGPUR: One officer of sub-inspector rank of Nagpur central jail, along with eight other personnel, tested Covid positive on Tuesday triggering a major scare in the prison department. More testing is underway.
Nagpur jail has around 1,830 inmates and staff of 350 including 30 officers. Jail superintendent Anup Kumar Kumre, who tested negative, is now home quarantined.
It is learnt 105 personnel, including Kumre, were inside the prison over a period of time as per lockdown norms. One of the personnel developed symptoms on June 25. The following day, entire group of 105 left the premises making way for another group of 103 to take their place for next phase.
The ailing jail personnel had on June 26 tried to remain at home but his condition did not improve. Next day, the personnel’s sample was collected. He initially tested negative but it was positive in the second test.
On Monday, SP Kumre and another 30 personnel’s samples were taken as they were in the same group. Out of 30, nine came positive. On Tuesday itself, another 50 samples were collected.
Kumre said he had observed wide range of precautions to stop the infection from entering the jail premises. “We are yet to start testing the inmates but have decided to do as and when required. At present, we are trying to sort out the situation,” he said.
City police chief BK Upadhyay, after learning of the developments in prison, immediately despatched immunity booster medicines through chief medical officer Dr Sandeep Shinde to be distributed among the personnel. Dr Shinde is trying to provide them to the inmates too.
Kumre had ensured two separate temporary ‘prison’ premises outside the main jail. Even a school was earmarked to keep the newcomers temporarily and allow them to step inside the jail’s quarantine systems only after testing negative. They were made to spend two more quarantine periods inside the jail before being allowed inside the barracks.