KOCHI: While the Covid spread in Ernakulam continues to be on the higher side, the authorities concerned have managed to contain the spread in the jails in the district over the past few months. Thanks to strict quarantine measures adopted for new prisoners, only four Covid cases were reported in jails in the past month.
From March 2020 to August 1, 2021, as many as 3,870 prisoners in various jails in the state contracted the coronavirus infection. Of them, only 328 prisoners tested positive in Ernakulam district. The highest number of Covid cases among prisoners — 1,330 — was reported at Thiruvananthapuram. Two other districts — Thrissur and Kannur — having central jails, like in Thiruvananthapuram, had 434 and 376 Covid cases among prisoners, respectively.
“In the first wave, and the initial stages of the second wave, the number of prisoners with Covid was very high in jails in Ernakulam district. At one stage, around 30% of prisoners tested positive. Later, when strict quarantine procedures were implemented, the number of cases came down. In August, we had four positive cases in various jails in the district,” said an officer with the prison and correctional service department.
Given the severity of the virus spread, persons remanded in judicial custody or prisoners shifted from other jails are compulsorily lodged at the first-line centre in the Aluva sub jail and the Borstal School in Kakkanad. “Earlier, before lodging prisoners at first-line centres, a Covid test was taken. If the tests showed negative, the prisoner was shifted to the jail concerned. Now, a 14-day quarantine period is mandatory even if the initial test result is negative. A new prisoner arriving from the first-line centre is isolated for certain days in the jail and his/her health condition is monitored. Similarly, regular testing of inmates is initiated to detect and isolate Covid cases in jails,” the officer said.
With Covid cases among prisoners remaining low, the production of ‘Freedom Food’ products like chapati, curries and biryani have returned to full swing at the district jail in Kakkanad and at food counters in various parts of Kochi. “These days, we are witnessing good sales of our food products. We have limited the involvement of prisoners to cooking as a precaution against Covid spread in the jail. When restrictions were imposed from June to August, we had good business in Kochi,” said an officer at the Freedom Food counter in Kaloor.