233 Prisoners Across 16 Assam Jails Test COVID +ve

As many as 233 prisoners in 16 jails across Assam have tested positive for COVID-19, sources said.

In Dibrugarh jail, a total of 54 prisoners contracted the virus, while in Sivasagar, 51 have tested positive for the infection.

Both the jails make up 105 cases of the total tally, the highest among the 16 jails. The rest 128 are from jails in other districts.

The cases were detected in the last few days amid the second wave.

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It may be mentioned that near about 1000 prisoners have been vaccinated against the virus as of May 18.

The situation however is not as alarming as last year when almost 2500 prisoners in Assam jails had tested positive for COVID-19.

Notably, a suo moto PIL was filed by Gauhati High Court in regards vaccination of prisoners in jails across Assam. It had directed the state government to file an affidavit, updating the vaccination process of the prisoners.

On Tuesday, Assam recorded 5,835 new cases of coronavirus and 73 deaths. The active caseload stood at 46,393.

The positivity rate in the state has seen a sharp dip from 9.2 percent to 6.47 percent in the last six days.

Medical experts and doctors have been concerned about Assam reaching the peak of the devastating second wave; however, the decline in positivity rate reflects a ray of hope for the state.

According to the National Health Mission data on Tuesday, Assam has registered 4,311 discharges and the recovery rate has touched 85.31 percent with total recoveries of 2,90,774 so far.

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