Thirty more undertrials at the Bengaluru Central Prison in Parappana Agrahara have tested positive for COVID-19. Over a week ago, 20 undertrials and six prison staffers were diagnosed with the infection.
“Luckily, this time too, all the 30 are asymptomatic and have been shifted to the COVID Care Centre at Haj Bhavan. The 30 undertrials were lodged in the same barrack as the 20 who tested positive over a week ago and are their primary contacts,” a senior prison official said.
Over 400 undertrials were lodged in the prison during May-June period, of whom 50 have now tested positive. “We tested 150 in the first batch and 188 in the last few days. There are a handful of them left to be tested. We have ensured the newly lodged undertrials don’t come into contact with other inmates,” the official said. Being the most overcrowded prison in the State, there are over 5,000 inmates here.
Prison officials said they were now facing a shortage of personnel as many guards, who were primary contacts of the six staffers who contracted COVID-19, were under home quarantine. “Their quarantine period will end in a few days and we hope that will solve the issue,” an official said.
