Covid-19: 34 remandees at Siaya GK Prison test positive
A prison officer guards the Siaya GK Prison gate on May 3, 2021. Thirty-four remandees from the correctional institution have tested Covid-19 positive.
At least 34 remandees at the Siaya GK Prison have tested positive for Covid-19, Siaya County Executive Committee Member for Health Dismas Wakla has revealed.
Mr Wakla said that out of the 63 samples collected from across the county on Friday, 33 had been collected from the correctional institution out of which 28 turned positive.
“After assessing the isolation units at the facility, we carried out a rapid test, out of which six more people tested positive, bringing the total number to 34,” he said on Monday.
Mr Wakla said 10 remandees, who showed signs of Covid-19, were taken to Siaya County Referral Hospital Covid-19 Treatment Centre, while the other 24 are recuperating at the prison's isolation unit.
He said that prison officers had been deployed to guard the inmates in isolation. The remandees were brought to the facility after being held in various police stations in the county such as Aram, Siaya and Akala.
The prison does not admit the inmates until they complete a mandatory 14-day quarantine.
The rising cases of Covid-19 infections in prisons across the country are due to congestion in police cells where suspects are held. Mr Wakla said that prevention of Covid-19 requires collaborative efforts from police and the courts.
Mr Wakla told Nation as of Monday, 928 people had tested positive in Siaya County out of 13, 356 samples collected.
