A prison guard who lived in the Dhaka Central Jail barracks has tested positive for Covid-19, the first confirmed case among prison guards of the country.
Prison guards at that barracks usually provide security while transporting prisoners to various hospitals and prison officials suspect the guard was infected at one such hospital.
Dhaka Central Jail Jailer Mahbubul Islam confirmed the matter to Dhaka Tribune and said: “The prison guard has been ill for the last few days. His Covid-19 test came back positive on Tuesday.”
The prison guard has been admitted to a hospital and his roommates at the barracks have been quarantined, he added.
Additional Inspector General of Prisons Colonel Md Abrar Hossain told Dhaka Tribune: “This is the first time any of them [prison guards] have been infected with coronavirus. This prison guard used to work with the sick prisoners at Dhaka Medical College Hospital and he may have been infected in some way from that hospital.”
The AIG Prisons added that the guard did not have duty inside any jails and no prisoners of the country have shown any coronavirus symptoms as yet.
However, eight isolation units are ready across the country in case they are needed, he further said.
The jail authority said new prisoners are kept separate for 14 days before joining the general population of the jail.
If any prisoner shows coronavirus symptoms, they will be sent to the prescribed isolation units, they added.
