Thiruvananthapuram: Poojappura jail staff defeat Covid-19 by locking it down

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When

Poojappura central jail

suffered a Covid-19 outbreak, authorities had more than just the virus to contend with: Fear and panic spread like wildfire among inmates as well as officers.


Among the first decisions, officials took involved keeping staff in the prison complex until the outbreak was contained. This was not just to prevent the virus from spreading, but to drive home the message that they were in this together.

“We were facing an unprecedented event and a good number of the staff members at the time were new recruits. Many contemplated quitting their jobs. Many experienced officers even sought emergency leave,” says deputy

superintendent

D Sathyaraj.

The top brass, including superintendent, two joint superintendents and two deputy superintendents, also decided to remain in the complex. Among them, superintendent Nirmalandan Nair was 53 years of age and Sathyaraj was 51. This had a positive influence on younger officers. The crisis also affected

food distribution

. The cafeteria, canteen and officers’ mess had closed down. Moreover, prisoners who prepared food in the inmates’ mess too got infected.

Regular interactions with inmates were held and they were kept abreast with general developments. Officials also worked overtime to address the concerns of the inmates’ families, who kept calling to enquire about the welfare of their near and dear as personal visits were banned following the lockdown.

It was on August 12 that the first two cases were detected in the prison. They were isolated immediately and a massive screening test was launched among inmates and staff. About 527 inmates, of the total 930, and 12 assistant prison officers were found to be infected. The service of the prison medical officers, too, was missed as one tested positive and the other had to be placed under observation.

Authorities succeeded in containing spread by isolating the infected. Having free prison blocks, after over 800 inmates were granted emergency parole, helped in this task. After over 40 days of lockdown and three rounds of screening tests, the prison was declared free of the virus. The only casualty was a 70-year-old inmate, who was serving life for double murder.

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