Jail inmates to undergo ‘smelling the coffee’ test
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ‘Smelling the coffee’ will now become a part of the daily routine of hundreds of prisoners in the state. As loss of smell is considered as one of the early symptoms of Covid-19, the Health Department has asked the Prisons and Correctional Services Department to introduce ‘smelling test’ in jails. The department has also been asked to implement daily symptom surveillance and reverse quarantine inside prisons. The move aims to prevent disease outbreak in jails and identify potential spreaders of the virus at an earlier stage.
As per a report of the Director-General of Prisons and Correctional Services, of the 4,298 prisoners tested for coronavirus infection, 683 were found to be positive till the first week of September.“It’s a simple test. The inmates will be asked to smell coffee powder and report any alteration in smell perception,” said a health department officer. “Studies have shown that temporary loss of sense of smell (anosmia) is the main neurological symptom and one of the earliest and most commonly reported indicators of Covid-19 infection. It is a better indicator of the disease than other well-known symptoms such as fever and cough,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, health officials said apart from coffee powder, the other recommended substances are soap, lemon, etc. “Jail inmates should be asked to report if they cannot sense taste (sweet, sour, bitter or salty), as it is also a symptom of Covid-19,” said a health official.
Meanwhile, the health authorities, in an advisory, have asked the Prisons Department to carry out daily symptom surveillance among jail staff and inmates. “They should look for symptoms like fever, cough, running nose, loose stools, absence of the sense of smell and others. If anyone has such symptoms, the person should get isolated and undergo Covid-19 test.
Also, asymptomatic primary contacts (though tested negative) shall not mix with other people,” reads an excerpt of the health advisory. It has also been highlighted that a proper infrastructure plan should be readied for each prison for isolation of symptomatic persons, quarantine of contacts, reverse quarantine of vulnerable individuals and facilities for healthy individuals.
Prison statistics
As per the National Prisons Information Portal, there are 4,744 inmates in the state’s prisons and of them, 226 belonged to the 60-70 age group and 50 are above 70 years.