Separate jail kitchens and toilets for new inmates

Ghaziabad: After Covid outbreaks in prisons of Jhansi, Gorakhpur and Prayagraj, among others, the UP government has come out with instructions for jail authorities.
The government has directed that a temporary zone be created on the jail premises for new inmates and they be tested for Covid with the RT-PCR method. There would be arrangements for separate kitchens and toilets for these inmates. If anyone shows symptoms like fever, cold and cough, he or she should be tested immediately with the rapid antigen kit. In case, a prisoner tests negative, another test should be done using the RT-PCR method, the guidelines say.
While asymptomatic patients would be kept in an isolated room in the jail compound itself, those with symptoms have to be sent to the hospital. Officials have been asked to give proper attention to pregnant inmates and women prisoners with kids.
Like healthcare workers, all jail staff would be put on rotation for two weeks. In Ghaziabad, a temporary jail has been created at Sambhu Dayal College, where new prisoners are initially kept.
Dr Sunil Tyagi, senior consultant posted at Dasna jail, said, “So far, 12 new prisoners at Sambhu Dayal College have tested positive, while three constables at Dasna jail were found to have Covid.”