THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Central Prison at Poojapura continues to be a major concern for the jail and health authorities, with 145 more persons, including a staffer, testing positive for Covid-19 on Sunday.
The prison also reported its first Covid death on Sunday when a 72-year-old under-trial prisoner died of the disease at the Medical College Hospital here.
The deceased, Manikandan of Kilimanoor, who had tested positive last Tuesday, was the first inmate to be diagnosed with the disease.
It was after Manikandan contracted the infection that extensive testing was conducted among the inmates and staff.
So far, 362 people have contracted the infection, of whom three are prison staff and the remaining are prisoners.
A total of 298 antigen tests were conducted among the prison staff and jail inmates on Sunday.
As many as 53 new cases were reported from the jail on Saturday.
The results of the antigen tests show that the Central prison and its premises have become an epicentre of the virus spread.
The infected inmates — whose source of infection is yet to be identified — are currently housed in a special facility in the prison complex itself.
Since all patients are asymptomatic, they have been isolated in the prison and are being treated there. A special ward will be opened in the prison soon for treatment.
According to prison authorities, Manikandan, was suffering from age-related ailments and his health condition worsened due to Covid.
Manikandan was hospitalised on Monday after he collapsed in the prison. Remanded in connection with a murder case, Manikandan had been in the jail for the past 18 months.
Sources said he continued to be in jail as there was no one to release him on bail, nor did he have any place to stay once out of jail.Prison Superintendent B Sunil Kumar said Manikandan’s test result prompted them to go for an extensive screening of inmates and staff.
He said a confirmation Covid test will be conducted and the procedures for conducting his last rites will be decided on the basis of the outcome of the test.
With more cases being reported from the jail, the DIG (Prisons) S Santhosh has gone into self-quarantine. Prison authorities said more antigen tests will be conducted in the coming days.
Presently, there are 975 inmates in the Central prison at Poojapura.
The state prison headquarters was shut down for three days on Friday after two prisoners, who were engaged in sanitising the headquarters and its premises, tested positive.