Measures Tightened To Prevent Coronavirus In Prisons: Minister

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Apr, 2020 ) ::Provincial Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Social Welfare Muhammad Basharat Raja has said that measures have been tightened to prevent coronavirus spread in all prisons of the province.

He said that on the directions of Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Bazdar screening of prisoners was being arranged in all jails.

In a statement, he said on Friday that a transfer plan had been made to shift 3,500 prisoners from overcrowded jails to others, enabling maximum social distancing in prisons.

He said that the total number of prisoners in Punjab was 45,535 currently, out of which the number of under-trial prisoners was 25,708, and of them, 713 were female.

The minister said that the newly arriving prisoners were being tested and kept in quarantine centres for 14 days.

He said that the corona counters had also been set up at the entrance gates besides setting up corona wards in all district jails of Punjab.

All visitors were allowed to enter the premises after strict checking.

Bashart Raja said that all medical staff in jails had been given special training about coronavirus prevention and had been provided with personal protection kits.

He said that as soon as symptoms of coronavirus appear in any prisoner, his meetings with relatives and and the court appearances were stopped immediately. He said that staff on duty in prisons were not allowed to go out of the premises. No prisoners were allowed from one barracks to another, and all gatherings had been banned in jails.

He said the prisons staff and detainees had also been informed about the coronavirus preventive measures in accordance with the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.