26 people East London Correctional Services Centre in South Africa have tested positive to covid-19. 23 of the cases are staff and only 3 cases are inmates.
The announcement was made by Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola. The Minister says all the cases where caused by a staffer who tested positive after contracting the virus at a funeral. He said they have identified the cases quarantine centre at the prison. He said all the inmates and staff are being tested.
This has risen because of the first case that we had here, she had attended a funeral. She came in contact with 30 of them here. We have identified quarantine sites for the staff and inmates. We are also testing 260 inmates here. We are waiting for results from some of them. The cases are being taken care of by the Department of Health in this prison. I have talked to some of them and they are in good spirits. There is a medical staff who makes sure the inmates are adhering to the cleanliness procedures. Some of them are not in hospital because they do not have symptoms. They were tested early and that measure has good results because we know what we are dealing with. There is sufficient protective gear at this centre, but as you are aware the issue of protective gear is a global challenge but we are doing what we can to make sure it is available.
We had said we were going to take the media to see the conditions under which inmates are kept. There are measures that are there in Suncity including deep cleaning and hand washing, but materials may diminish but that is not the norm.