Covid-19: 24 inmates of Kollam district jail infected

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The inmates of the district jail at Kollam are facing the Covid-19 threat after 24 of them tested positive. The rapid antigen tests were conducted among 50 inmates after one of them had symptoms of fever. There are 179 inmates in the prison.
"Necessary direction has been given to the jail authorities to conduct tests on all the inmates. It has also been asked to set up a first-line treatment centre inside the jail complex," said fisheries minister J Mercykutty, who is in charge of the district.
Among the 24 inmates, who have tested positive, three were shifted to the government medical college hospital at Parippally due to complications while the remaining have been housed at a special ward set up in the jail block. This block will be fully converted into the first-line treatment centre.
The minister said that more tests will be conducted inside the jail and if necessary steps will be taken to shift the inmates to the nearby first-line treatment centre.
A few days ago, an official working with the district jail had tested positive. It is being assumed that the inmates might have got infected from him. On Sunday, 69 more positive cases were reported from the district, of which 51 contracted the virus through local contacts. At present, the district has 8548 under observation, of whom 645 have Covid symptoms. The total number of active cases undergoing treatment at various designated isolation facilities in the district are 562.