The border prisons at Beitbridge and Plumtree have been
sealed off after six people — four inmates and two prison officers — tested
positive for Covid-19 following PCR tests done to prevent the spread of the
virus in jails.
Two inmates and one officer are from Plumtree while another
pair of inmates and one officer tested positive in Beitbridge. The ongoing
testing process throughout the prison system started at the border prisons
which have accommodated arrested returnees from other countries.
Police have announced that 94 border jumpers, people
crossing illegally into Zimbabwe, have recently been arrested as the
authorities step up efforts to ensure all those returning from other countries,
especially countries with high infection rates, are screened, tested and
properly quarantined on their arrival.
Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting
Services Monica Mutsvangwa said yesterday that Government has now suspended all
visits to the two prisons to contain the spread of the virus.
She said the four prisoners and two officers have since
been isolated while the two prison facilities were disinfected. The four
prisoners were being treated in isolation within the prison walls while the two
officers were staying in self-isolation in their homes while they recover.
The minister said increased Covid-19 testing has seen
correctional facilities being tested for the virus.
“The coming online of GeneXpert machines to test for
Covid-19 has enabled increased testing capacity. All provincial hospitals can
conduct PCR tests, and some machines are now testing at correctional
facilities,” she said.
Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS)
spokesperson Superintendent Meya Khanyezi said a total of 274 PCR tests were
done at the two prisons.
“Of the 216 PCR tests conducted at Plumtree prison, three
tested positive while three out of 58 PCR tests done at Beitbridge prison were
positive.
“As a precautionary measure, we have declared the prisons a
no-go area and the cells have since been fumigated. We no longer allow any
visitors and we have also suspended any movements out of prisons for now,” she
said.
ZPCS cannot accommodate all its officers in the prison
camps, hence a number of them stay outside camps, making it difficult to
completely seal the prisons off.
More suspects are remanded in custody daily at courts
countrywide, hence putting existing inmates at risk of contracting the virus.
But the option of remanding all those on bail out of
custody may not be viable since some of those accused of serious offences may
skip bail.
Yesterday ZPCS failed to bring prisoners to court while it
took stock of the position.
The overwhelming majority of infections recorded in
Zimbabwe have been among citizens and residents returning from countries with
much higher infection rates. Those testing positive have largely been inside
approved quarantine centres where the ill and the well are separated, with the
well allowed to go home after eight days and two tests but having to promise to
remain in quarantine at home until the compulsory 21 days are finished and a
final test is done.
Also of concern is that 153 returnees have escaped from
Covid-19 quarantine centres countrywide since 30 March, with 23 so far
arrested. With residents returning from countries with far higher infection
rates than Zimbabwe, the authorities want to make sure they undergo quarantine
and, if necessary, treatment.
So far since the beginning of the lockdown, 49 405 people
have been arrested for flouting lockdown regulations, most of them for
unnecessary movement or failure to wear a mask. Almost all of those arrested
are invited to pay deposit fines of up to $500 and told not to breach the
regulations again.
National police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul
Nyathi, yesteday stressed the efforts the police were making to ensure all
entering the country were screened. Chronicle
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