Test inmates, correction officers for Covid-19

Warning of a flare-up in Covid-19 cases in prisons, Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor on Sunday called for the immediate confirmatory testing of all inmates and correction officers manifesting early symptoms of the highly contagious respiratory disease.

“Nobody should be left behind in terms of prompt access to free testing as well as patient care, support and treatment just because they happen to be in prison,” said the vice chair of the House health committee.

“We’re afraid we might have a much higher Covid-19 case fatality rate among inmates in particular owing to poor nutrition, limited access to health care and high rates of undiagnosed pre-existing conditions, including tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection,” Defensor said.

He said he is counting on the Department of Health and the Department of Justice to take highly aggressive actions to suppress the spread of COVID-19 in prisons.

“There’s no question that on account of severe overcrowding, all of our correction facilities across the country are extremely high-risk closed settings for transmission, rendering both inmates and correction officers exceptionally vulnerable,” Defensor said.

Citing Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) statistics, Defensor said 49,114 inmates are now jam-packed in eight prisons meant for 11,981 individuals.

The New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City, for instance, is supposed to accommodate only 6,435 convicts, but actually has 28,885 inmates, or a congestion rate of 349 percent, Defensor pointed out.

Defensor also said the Davao Prison and Penal Farm in Panabo City, Davao del Norte is 384 percent congested (with 6,555 inmates versus capacity for 1,354).

The Correctional Institute for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City is 235 percent congested (3,371 inmates versus capacity for 1,008).

The BuCor has so far reported 195 confirmed COVID-19 cases – involving 161 inmates and 34 correction officers – at the NBP and the CIW in Mandaluyong.

The tally includes a 49-year-old correction officer at the NBP who returned to his hometown and became the first confirmed Covid-19 case in Itogon, Benguet on May 29.

Three inmates and three officers have already succumbed the disease.

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)