India News | 2 Jails Converted into COVID Care Centres in Punjab

Chandigarh, Aug 1 (PTI) The Punjab government on Saturday said two jails in Gurdaspur and Malerkotla have been converted into COVID care centres to house infected inmates.

Jails in Barnala, Patti, Bathinda, Pathankot, Ludhiana and the women cell in Ludhiana are already being used as quarantine centres for new inmates, Jails minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said in a statement here.

Also Read | Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan Launches Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21 Through Video Conferencing: Live News Breaking And Coronavirus Updates on August 1, 2020.

The minister informed that 11,500 prisoners have been released on parole since March.

At present, there are 17,000 inmates in the state's 25 jails against the capacity of 23,500.

Also Read | SIH 2020 Grand Finale: NEP Aims to Increase Gross Enrollment Ratio to 50% in Higher Education by 2035, Says PM Narendra Modi.

Of the 9,000 inmates tested for COVID-19 so far, 150 have been found positive. The infected prisoners are being shifted to Gurdaspur and Malerkotla jails for treatment, the minister said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)