Covid-19: Daily check must for elderly inmates in Delhi's Tihar jail

NEW DELHI: A day after an elderly inmate of Tihar Jail died of Covid-19, the jail authorities have made it mandatory for all inmates above the age of 60 to have daily medical check-ups. Patients with comorbidities and other ailments will have to go for a weekly check-up at health camps set up by jail doctors in the prisons’ quarters.
Doctors from DDU and GTB hospitals have also been asked to pay weekly visits to the jail quarantine units where 22 elderly inmates are lodged.
Tihar officials say that elderly inmates, especially those lodged in the Mandoli jail, have been put in quarantine wards where they are being provided a daily diet, including include turmeric milk and medicated tea, to boost their immunity.
“In a number of cases, the inmates and some staffers were found to be asymptomatic. They too have been kept under monitoring,” said a jail staffer.
Till July 4, Tihar had 53 inmates who were found to be infected with the novel coronavirus out of whom 31 have recovered and two died. Apart from this, 88 prison staff have been found to be positive and 28 have recovered.
Meanwhile, food habits of other inmates are also being tweaked to ensure that they develop immunity. “We will be procuring homeopathic medicines, which can boost immunity, by this week. It will not be compulsory for inmates to have those medicines,” said a senior jail officer.