KAKINADA: As many as 247 prisoners and staff of the Rajamahendravaram Central Prison, the biggest prison in Andhra Pradesh, have tested positive for coronavirus. This was confirmed by prison superintendent Srirama Raja Rao on Thursday, when 206 new cases were reported in the facility, which has 1,650 prisoners and 220 staff.
The prison doctor too has been infected, and the test results of more than 750 prisoners are awaited.
The virus is said to have spread in the prison after people accused in a few recent cases were sent to judicial remand there. On Monday, 41 prisoners and staff were found to be infected, and the authorities started testing everyone in the facility.
Sources said the infected prisoners were earlier taken to the Government General Hospital (GGH) in Rajamahendravaram, but with the number of Covid-19 cases in the district shooting up in the past few days, more hospital beds were needed, and the prisoners were shifted back to the barracks for treatment.
Initially, they were taken to GSL Hospital in Rajamahendravam, but one of them escaped from there, so they were shifted to the GGH, and now, they are back in prison.
The infected staff are under home isolation. Sources said at least 1,000 prisoners were tested for Covid-19, and most of the results are still awaited.The premises of the prison was initially a 196-acre fort built by the Dutch in 1602. The prison occupies 37.24 acres.