Coronavirus outbreak: Tihar, home to 17,000+ inmates, sets isolation wards
What's the story
With the number of positive cases of coronavirus climbing each day, Asia's largest prison facility Tihar has started screening inmates and has also set up eight isolation wards, reports said on Saturday.
The jail in Delhi currently houses approximately 17,500 inmates.
Meanwhile, none of the inmates have shown any symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, a jail official told ANI.
Precautions
Inmates are being informed about precautions that can defeat coronavirus
The thousands of inmates have been told about coronavirus symptoms, for them to report if they experience any. The authorities have also advised them to take precautions like washing hands and avoiding physical contact.
New inmates are being kept at different wards for three days before shifting to normal ones, the official added.
Foreign inmates will also be kept in isolation initially, reports suggested.
Deaths
In India, two coronavirus-positive patients died
Notably, in India, the number of positive cases has reached 84, and two people have died. The second death was reported from Delhi, wherein a 68-year-old woman passed away last night at RML Hospital.
The woman, who had underlying health problems including diabetes and hypertension, also tested positive for coronavirus.
She contracted the virus from her son, who has a travel history to Europe.
Do you know?
Earlier, a 76-year-old man in Karnataka died
The first person to die of coronavirus was a 76-year-old man in Karnataka. He had traveled to Saudi Arabia and was already suffering from hypertension and asthma. Defying the suggestions of medical practitioners, his kin got him discharged from hospital, said reports.
Disaster
India declared the outbreak as notified disaster
Meanwhile, in a major development, the government has declared the coronavirus outbreak as a notified disaster. With this, it will become easier to provide assistance under the State Disaster Response Fund.
Yesterday, the United States also declared a national emergency. President Donald Trump said this will open up access to $50 billion.
Within a week, 1.4 million tests will be available, Trump announced.
Outbreak
After China, Italy has suffered the maximum damage
Since its outbreak in China's Wuhan in December 2019, coronavirus has spread to over 100 countries and taken the lives of 5,000 people. The virus has single-stranded RNA and needs to hijack other living cells to multiply.
After China, coronavirus hit Italy the worst, where death toll crossed 1,000. More than 15,000 have been infected and the country has been put under lockdown.