Naini jail inmates defeat Covid with mutual cooperation
PRAYAGRAJ: At a time when Covid-19 pandemic claimed lakhs of lives across the world, all inmates of the Naini central jail who were infected with Sars-CoV-2 virus in the past few months defeated the deadly virus with mutual support.
They took good care of one another and even monitored pulse rates and oxygen levels that saw all 444 inmates, who had contracted Covid, recovering and there was no loss of live at the jail due to Covid. Also, there is no corona case among the prisoners there presently.
Naini jail superintendent PN Pandey said the prisoners were taught to take all precautions and coordinate with the jail administration and other inmates of their barracks to stay safe.
The prisoners not only take care of themselves but also served other prisoners who were sick.
The inmates used to regularly check the pulse rates and temperature of one another and note it down in the registers provided to them. The registers were presented before the doctors the next morning during routine check-up.
“The jail inmates maintained cleanliness on the jail premises. In those tough times when large number of people lost their lives, the prisoners defeated the threat with mutual cooperation and unity. At present no prisoner is infected with coronavirus infection at the jail,” Pandey said.
Pandey further said regular check-ups were being carried out at the jail and in all 12,364 prisoners had been examined so far since the pandemic started. At present, there are 4200 inmates lodged at the Naini jail.
Although it was quite difficult to control the spread of infection in the jail which is considered overcrowded, jail administration took every possible measure to keep the threat at bay. The jail administration made arrangements of a temporary hospital but the number of infected prisoners kept increasing. As the barracks remained locked during the night and even doctors were not allowed inside except in emergency situations, the jail authorities launched an awareness campaign among prisoners.
Meanwhile, screening of jail inmates was carried out on Saturday and Sunday. A team of 34 doctors and medical staff checked the prisoners for TB and coronavirus infections. The drive was launched after an aged prisoner died of TB a few days back. Jail administration has written a letter to the authorities concerned for medical examination of prisoners.