Punjab recorded 1,002 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday and 32 deaths, taking the total fatalities to 636, according to an official statement.
The number of cases has reached 25,889. The major chunk of new cases, 252 and 118, were reported from Ludhiana and Patiala districts respectively. The Health department said there were 8,463 active cases and 16,790 had recovered so far.
Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said that amid rise in COVID-19 cases and ensure the compliance with health protocols in jails, the State government had decided to bring the number of prisoners to 50% of the authorised capacity to provide adequate space for keeping the inmates under quarantine, besides ensuring social distancing.
“In accordance with the decision, 3,500 to 4,000 prisoners would be released soon, whereas earlier, 9,500 were released,” he said.
The Minister said the average admission in special jails was around 3,000 per month, due to which the present population of jails stood at 17,500, approximately 73% of the total capacity. He said 449 prisoners and 77 prison officials had tested positive till date. Most of the above cases had been detected in the last few weeks though two levels of testing of all prisoners had started since mid-May.
