Delhi's Tihar Jail on high alert after 52 inmates test positive for Covid-19

April 13, 2021
April 13, 2021IANS - New Delhi

Delhi’s Tihar jail is on high alert after at least 52 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, of which 35 are admitted in three different hospitals, senior prison officers said, adding that seven jail officers, including the prison doctor, have also contracted the infection.

The jail had only 19 cases of prisoners infected with coronavirus and no jail staff was affected by the deadly disease. Prison officers said the coronavirus infection has spread swiftly as the administration was trying to create isolation spaces inside the country’s most populated prison complex. Currently, the jail has over 20,000 prisoners, double its capacity of a little over 10,000.
 
A prison officer who did not wish to be named said, “Three prisoners were critical and had to be admitted to Lok Nayak Hospital; 32 prisoners have been admitted as a precautionary measure at two different hospitals; 17 others are in self isolation in the jail. The seven jail employees are isolating outside.”