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Emerging prison virus clusters spur calls for change
New COVID-19 clusters found in the country's many correctional facilities have revived concerns of overcrowding that pose serious risks of virus transmission.
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Prison officials spray disinfectant on inmates in Tanjung Gusta Penitentiary in Medan, North Sumatra, on March 23, 2020, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the overcrowded prison. (JP/Apriadi Gunawan)
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s the government scrambles to contain a post-Idul Fitri surge in COVID-19 cases, new prison clusters continue to emerge, putting Indonesia’s overcrowded correctional facilities under scrutiny once again.
Among them is Rajabasa Penitentiary in Lampung, which discovered 152 positive COVID-19 cases among its inmates last week, making it one of the latest prison clusters to contribute to the province's case surge, authorities said. The transmission was detected after officials carried out antigen tests on 526 inmates and wardens.
“They were placed in a separate isolation block where they received all the necessary medical treatment,” the Law and Human Rights Ministry’s spokesperson for the corrections directorate general, Rika Aprianti, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Another recent prison cluster was found in the Kendal Class II A and II B penitentiaries in Central Java, kompas.com reported, where a total of 110 inmates were infected after revelations that three wardens had tested positive for COVID-19.
On May 1, Lembata penitentiary in East Nusa Tenggara also reported 46 infected inmates, one of whom died two weeks later at the Lewoleba General Hospital (RSUD).
According to official data from the Corrections Directorate General, some 4,000 inmates have contracted the coronavirus as of February. The government has not provided real-time numbers on transmissions since the beginning of the pandemic.
Read also: Overcrowded and understaffed, prisons scramble to protect inmates from infection
