PANAJI: After three months, there are no Covid cases at
Colvale Central Jail and all the jail inmates and staff who had contracted the virus have been cured.
“We do not have a single active Covid case now. All have recovered,” a jail official said.
Visitors are still not allowed into the jail, but authorities said that they will take a call on changing it next month. Since March, authorities have not allowed visitors to the jail. “We have been just cleared of all active cases. So, we don’t want to take a risk by allowing visitors,” he said.
To stop possible spread of the infection, the inmates returning after completion of parole are kept in isolation. One batch of prisoners who were out on parole have returned. They all were subjected to antigen tests. “Though no one tested positive as an abundant precaution, they were all kept in quarantine for 14 days,” the official said.
The jail has about 500 plus inmates, including undertrials. The jail started reporting Covid cases from August, despite taking precautions to avoid infection in the jail premises. New comers were isolated and social distancing norms were implemented.
After a couple of cases of infection were reported among security personnel, other jail staff as well as some inmates had tested positive.