A remand prisoner from Bangladesh has tested positive for COVID-19. He was among three foreign nationals arrested for violating the Passport Act. After release on bail, when the trio was taken to the Special Camp in Tiruchi, a preventive health check revealed that one of them had the infection.
Confirming this to The Hindu , Director-General of Police (Prisons) Sunil Kumar Singh said that a prison warder who took the test on his own had also tested positive. He was admitted to a COVID-19 hospital, where his condition was stable. The Bangladeshi national would be tested again since there were doubts about the outcome of the test, he added.
Repeat test
“Since the two other prisoners tested negative, we want to test him again after 48 hours. The source of the infection is being investigated. The three prisoners have been quarantined. Of the 39 convicts who tested positive for COVID-19 last week, 8 have recovered and tested negative. Others are showing no symptoms and recovering well,” he said.
Mr. Singh said that 96 of the 142 Tablighi Jamaat delegates (131 foreign nationals and 11 local co-ordinators) had been released on bail. Among those let out on bail, 86 foreign nationals were sent to the special camp in Puzhal Central Prison. A standard safety procedure devised in consultation with medical experts was in place at the Puzhal prison complex and all central prisons across the State to prevent the spread of COVID-19, he added.
