Adiala jail staff quarters, hospital sealed

Officials call it precautionary measure, dismiss concerns

RAWALPINDI: Prison authorities have sealed a colony and a hospital located inside the Adiala Jail as a precautionary measure after a staffer died and the spouse of another tested positive for the novel coronavirus (Covid-19).

Meanwhile, an inmate at the sub-jail in Chakwal has tested positive for the virus, prompting officials there to isolate him.

Jail officials on Monday said that a dental technician, Kamal Ahmed, had died recently. They said Ahmed’s health had deteriorated last Thursday after which he was shifted to a hospital outside the jail where he died. The initial suspicion was that he had died of natural causes related to his pre-existing heart and some other conditions.

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However, jail officials called for his body to be tested for the presence of Covid-19. The tests, though, came back negative.

As a precaution, they have tested 42 people around Ahmed, including his family, acquaintances and eight jail staffers he was known to have come in contact with. So far, reports of 20 people have come back as negative, they informed.

The threat of the virus in the jail, especially amongst its staff, had heightened after the husband of a staffer working at the jail’s hospital had tested positive. Once the staffer’s spouse tested positive, the staffer was self-isolated at home in the jail colony and has been on medical leave since May 31. Officials said although she has tested negative for the virus, she remains in self-isolation as a precaution.

Punjab Inspector General of Jails told The Express Tribune that while reports suggested that the dental technician did not die from the pandemic virus, the jail colony and jail hospital areas have been sealed off as a precautionary measure.

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Moreover, a senior official at the Adiala Jail maintained that staff have been equipped with personal protection equipment and all  SOPs are being strictly followed there.

The jail administration is finding it hard to ensure social distancing protocols in a prison that has twice the number of inmates than its capacity.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 9^th, 2020.