On Thursday, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh informed that as many as 77 inmates and 26 staff members from Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai have tested positive for coronavirus. Despite taking necessary measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the jails, the pandemic has reached the prisons in the state.
The state government had isolated eight prisons in the state, including the Arthur Road prison after the coronavirus pandemic broke out. The government had ordered that no new person will be allowed to enter and those inside, including jail staff, will not be allowed to leave prison during the lockdown.
Talking to the media in Palghar, Deshmukh said that despite the precautions, 106 people at Arthur Road Jail have contracted the virus. He added that they had caught the infection after coming in contact with a cook who had tested positive previously.
Home Minister Deshmukh was speaking to the media after visiting Gadchinchale village in the district where three individuals including two monks had been lynched on April 16 by a mob on suspicion of being thieves.
Later in the day, Deshmukh through a video message on Twitter said, "Coronavirus infection was found in one of the barracks of the Arthur Road Jail. After which, we carried out tests of all the inmates in the barrack immediately. The test results revealed that 77 inmates and 26 staff members had contracted the disease. "
आर्थर रोड जेल, मुंबई में हुए कोरोना संसर्ग और प्रादुर्भाव के बारे में... pic.twitter.com/7QgOQC4GJe
— ANIL DESHMUKH (@AnilDeshmukhNCP) May 7, 2020
"So we have initiated the process of quarantining these 103 persons at St George Hospital," the NCP leader added.
Meanwhile, Deshmukh also announced that to curb the spread of the virus in jails, the state government had decided to release on parole close to 5,000 prisoners who have been sentenced to less than seven years of imprisonment.
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