Goa jailor found Covid positive; all inmates to be tested: Official

Panaji, July 10 (IANS) All inmates of the North Goa district jail will be screened for COVID-19, after a jailor posted in the central prison tested positive for the viral infection, state Health Secretary Nila Mohanan said on Friday.

“Each and every inmate of the jail (located in Colvale village in North Goa) will be checked for Covid,” Mohanan told reporters.

On Wednesday, a jailor posted at the prison premises had tested positive for COVID-19.

“We took 42 samples of those inmates and prison staff who were in contact with the jailor who had tested positive,” the Health Secretary said.

“Then we decided that every single inmate of Colvale will be screened and as a result of which we took 161 samples, all of them are also negative. Today, 221 samples have been collected and tomorrow and day after they are going to collect more samples,” she said.

Mohanan also said that an Education Department official had also tested positive and that precautions are being taken to contain the spread.

“Immediately our health team has gone there and taken samples from people who have been working in the same section as this person. We’ve taken 19-20 samples,” she said, adding that the office space was being sanitised and those government employees who were working in proximity of the infected staffer had been directed to stay in home quarantine.

–IANS

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