The positive cases were revealed following swab tests conducted at the facility on Oct. 26, when 1,502 inmates were tested.

“The results were delivered to us in two stages. The first results, which we received on Nov. 2, showed that 207 inmates were positive for COVID-19, and on Nov. 5 we received another group of swab test results that showed that 150 inmates were positive,” Riau Law and Human Rights Agency head Ibnu Chuldun said on Friday, adding that the inmates were asymptomatic.

“We have [responded to] the COVID-19 spread by separating healthy inmates from positive inmates. Some of the inmates who tested negative have been transferred to the juvenile detention [facility] in Rumbai,” he said.

He went on saying that the inmates’ families should not feel worried, because inmates with COVID-19 have been treated by the COVID-19 task force in Riau.

“Every positive inmate has been isolated and treated for 14 days as stipulated in the health protocols,” Ibnu said.

He also added that the task force had previously treated inmates at the Women’s Detention Center in Pekanbaru. 

“As many as 75 of 85 positive inmates at the detention center have recovered. Ten inmates are getting better, but they are still staying in a separate place because their isolation period is not over yet,” Ibnu stated.

The acting head of the Pekanbaru Detention Center, Alfonsus Wisnu Ardianto, added that he had prepared a special isolation block with a capacity of 500 people, which was separated from the healthy inmates’ block. 

“Every inmate who tests positive for COVID-19 is given vitamins to increase their stamina. We will also take them to sunbathe every morning,” Alfonsus said, adding that the detention center would not allow visits for the next five days to prevent the virus from spreading further. 

Last month, there were 106 infected prisoners at the Kerobokan Correction Center in Badung, Bali, including 84 men. All of them were isolated in the Kuta block of the penitentiary. 

Prison authorities discovered a COVID-19 cluster in the penitentiary by carrying out mass COVID-19 rapid testing over several days, after several inmates had complained of symptoms related to COVID-19, such as loss of smell and taste. 

Since the beginning of the outbreak, the Law and Human Rights Ministry’s Corrections Directorate General has been struggling to prevent COVID-19 transmission at penitentiaries due to overcrowding and understaffing. (rzh/dpk)