UP: 191 inmates test positive for Covid in Basti district jail

LUCKNOW: As many as 191 inmates of the Basti district jail tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday. This takes the tally of Covid-19 positive inmates in the jails across the state to 1,379. The inmates were found to be positive after health department teams screened 374 inmates on August 9. There are around 1,400 inmates currently lodged at Basti district jail.
Chief medical officer, Basti, Dr AK Gupta, told TOI that preliminary investigations have revealed that an infected person who had gone to distribute medicines, may have carried the virus inside. Later, during random sampling around 191 inmates tested positive.
“All have been isolated inside the prison in separate barracks, while eight others who are elder inmates have been shifted to district hospital,” he said.
Sources in the police department disclosed that last month two inmates had fled from temporary jail, and as a result all the inmates were then kept inside the permanent jail only.