At least 178 inmates in Rwandan jails have tested positive for coronavirus since the outbreak of the pandemic in March this year, the Commissioner General for Rwanda Correctional Service (RCS) George Rwigamba revealed in Kigali on Thursday.
“People who have tested positive are being quarantined and monitored,” Commissioner Rwigamba said adding that of the total confirmed cases, 11 have died after contracting COVID-19.
Speaking during a press briefing in Kigali, the senior Prison warden said there are also inmates and staff who have recovered where the hotspot detention facility is Rwamagana in Eastern Rwanda.
Earlier this month, the Rwandan minister of Health, Dr Daniel Ngamije explained that in Rwamagana, health officials have been keeping a keen eye on detention facilities where they usually treat members from correctional facilities.
“The fact that 13 of the 39 inmates who had not gone anywhere else tested positive makes us believe that there is a problem in neighboring Nsinda prison” he said.
On Thursday 36 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed in Rwanda in the last 24 hours.
Of these cases, seven were detected in Kigali city while the rest were discovered in Nyamagabe another district in southern Rwanda.
The results were obtained from 2,392 samples taken in the last 24 hours.
The tally of confirmed cases is 5,543 of whom 5,087 have already recovered from the respiratory disease.
A total of 593, 777 tests have been conducted up to date.
So far, 46 people have succumbed to Covid-19 in Rwanda.
CU/as/APA