All 20 Covid-19 cases in Capital jails traced to asymptomatic officers

NEWDELHI: A string of measures — ban on biweekly visits from family members, segregation of new inmates to an isolated jail for the first 14 days and holding court proceedings through video conference from within the prison — has not been able to prevent the Covid-19 virus from creeping in to all three jail complexes in Delhi — Tihar, Rohini and Mandoli.

Till Monday evening, the three complexes, which house a total of 14,000 prisoners and around 1,800 jail officers, had reported 20 cases among prisoners and staffers.

Senior prison officers said contact tracing so far has revealed that in all the three jails, the virus reached the prison through asymptomatic jail officers.

At least 17 families living in separate flats at the Tihar residential complex, located behind the jail, have been told to go into self isolation for 14 days.

“In at least 17 flats, the officers are in self-isolation. Around 60 people in those flats are in home isolation. The officials in Tihar and Rohini jail, who were infected with the virus, were both residents of Tihar quarters. Only the Mandoli deputy superintendent, who tested positive lived somewhere else,” said a prison officer, requesting anonymity.

Prison officers also said that barring the case of the Mandoli officer, all the cases were asymptomatic. The officials fear that many more inside the prison may be infected with the virus and have ordered all jail superintendents to ensure that both prisoners and jail officers follow social distancing norms strictly.

“At Rohini jail, we came to know that a 29-year-old prisoner had been infected with the virus after he was rushed to a hospital for surgery. By the time we were informed by the hospital, 15 inmates and one head warder had already contracted the disease. All 15 prisoners were behind bars since the lockdown. They had no interaction with anyone outside. The head warder lived in Sonipat, which is a hot spot. Later, another assistant superintendent of Rohini jail, who too lived in the Tihar residential complex, tested positive. The Tihar official, who tested positive on Sunday, is also a resident of the same complex. All the infected prisoners have been behind bars since the lockdown.