Nagpur: A COVID Care Centre has become operational at Nagpur Central Jail from Sunday with admission of 34 asymptomatic prisoners infected by novel coronavirus. Seven symptomatic patients are being treated at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMC&H) and Indira Gandhi Government Medical College & Hospital (IGGMC&H).
Jail Superintendent Anup Kumre stated that three barracks were turned into Covid Care Centre where asymptomatic prisoners will be kept. Each barracks has capacity of 50 patients, it means a total of 150 patients can be treated in the centre, he said.Two barracks will be reserved for COVID
patients while one will be made available for other patients.
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Saturday 28 Dec. 2024
Doctors from GMCC&H and IGGMC&H are treating the patients. Even Civil Surgeon himself visited the centre to review the situation, he said. The jail authorities also decided to introduce new diet plan for the prisoners to boost there immunity. “New diet will be made available for the prisoners as per the doctor’s advise. It will boost their immune system,” he said.
Serious patients will be referred to hospitals as per doctor’s advice. If someone feels feverish, he would be immediately quarantined and medical treatment will be given on urgent basis. Similarly, regular medical check ups of the prisoners will also be conducted to identify symptomatic patients.
The COVID-19 spread will also be contained by maintaining social distancing, using masks and applying hand sanitizers.
So far, a total of 41 prisoners and 62 staffers from the prison have been found infected with COVID-19. A total of 1,783 prisoners are living in the prison having more than 20 barracks.
A jail constable was first found infected with COVID-19 on June 27, after which the tally climbed to 103 within a week. The jail authorities have already released 770 prisoners on emergency parole to prevent overcrowding. Even the jail staffers were living in the jail for the period of minimum 15 days so that no staffer would enter the prison with infection. The strategy worked well for three months. But an infected and asymptotic staffer who entered the prison with the batch of 105 staff on June 11 spread the infection in the prison. New prisoners are also being kept at the hall of Mangalmurti Lawn near the jail and a school.
