Covid-19 isolation centres inaugurated in 3 prisons
Minister of Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan inaugurated the centres virtually on Sunday
Three Covid-19 isolation centres were inaugurated on Sunday in Keraniganj Central Jail, Kishoreganj District Jail – 2, and Feni District Jail – 2, respectively.
Minister of Home Affairs, Asaduzzaman Khan, MP, inaugurated the centres virtually, read a press release.
The isolation centres have been established to minimise the chance of Covid-19 outbreaks in prisons, under close cooperation between the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA), the Prisons Directorate, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Of the three isolation centres in the three prisons, Keraniganj Central Jail has 70 beds, Feni District Jail – 2 has 41 beds, and Kishoreganj District Jail – 2 has 28 beds.
Elaborating on the ICRC's support to help set up the Covid-19 isolation centres in the three prisons, Katja Lorenz, ICRC head of delegation in Bangladesh, said the ICRC supported in designing and setting up the centres, providing technical support to establish guidelines, implementing infection prevention and control measures, and providing basic medical and sanitation equipment and furniture.
Brigadier General Md Mominur Rahman Mamun, inspector general (IG) of prisons said, "The Prisons Directorate (PD) has been consistently working since the beginning of the pandemic to develop an efficient and comprehensive system to prevent the spread of Covid-19 inside prisons. These constant efforts involve all the PD staff from HQ to prison guards."
"This work has been supported by different partners, including the MoHA, the MoHFW, and the ICRC in different projects such as training on precautionary measures against Covid-19 for prison staff, regular distribution of PPE in all 68 prisons, and the renovation and equipment of the three isolation centres for detainees who caught Covid-19, that we are inaugurating today."
Md Mokabbir Hossain, secretary of the Security Services Division, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Brigadier General Md Mominur Rahman Mamun, inspector general (IG) of Prisons, Colonel Md Abrar Hossain, additional IG Prisons, and Henning Krause, ICRC protection coordinator in Bangladesh, physically attended the inauguration event on the premises of Keraniganj Central Jail.
