Coronavirus outbreak: Over 400 cases confirmed in Chinese prisons

Amid the unprecedented coronavirus outbreak, recently more than 400 new cases have been detected in prisons across China. According to the international news agency, the provincial health commission said at a press conference on February 21 that seven guards and 200 inmates tested positive for the novel virus at Rencheng prison in the eastern Shandong province raising concerns about the new clusters of the epidemic. 

The head of Shandong's justice department, Xie Weijun has been reportedly sacked over the outbreak along with two other provincial prison administration officials along with five other from the penitentiary. Moreover, Wu Lei, the director of Shandong's prison administration has said that the new cases showcase that “the implementation of our prevention and control measures has not been effective”. Additional 34 cases have been detected at Shilifeng prison in eastern Zheijiang province leading to the removal of director and another official. 

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411 cases in prisons in Hubei

Earlier on February 21, Hubei announced that 271 cases were confirmed by its prisons on February 20 including 220 that were previously unknown to the authorities. The hard-hit Chinese province of Covid-19 also said that a total of 411 new cases of the deadly virus were confirmed in the province on February 20. However, it later revised its figure up to 631 to include the numbers of the prisoners. 

According to international media reports, the new clusters of patients of the novel virus came after the authorities had pointed out a drop in the officially reported of the new cases this week. The Chinese officials had claimed the decrease in new cases as evidence that quarantines and other drastic measures by the government were working in order to contain the spread of coronavirus. Most of China where the coronavirus has claimed 2,236 lives and has confirmed more than 75,000 cases, has been paralysed over the fears of the pathogen. 

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While some people are slowly coming back to work, schools are still closed and Beijing has also ordered the returnees to remain in self-quarantine for at least two weeks. New cases at two hospitals in China have also been emerging and health officials reportedly said that 36 patients, medical workers and family members have been infected with covid-19 at Beijing's Fuxing hospital which has been in a partial seal off since January 31. 

Meanwhile, the members of China's Uighur minority living in exile have also reportedly warned of the risk of coronavirus spreading in the camps where the rights groups have claimed that more than a million people have been rounded up by the authorities. According to the information obtained by the doctors, the deadly virus spreads through droplets disseminated by sneezing or coughing. This further highlights the risks for large groups of confined people that apparently live without adequate access to soap and water. 

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(With PTI inputs)