Cairo: Kuwait has said that 285 inmates in its central prison tested positive for the novel coronavirus, as the country is battling to contain the highly contagious disease.
The cases were detected after COVID-19 tests were conducted on the prisoners, the Interior Ministry’s General Directorate of Security Relations and Media said.
Later, 225 out of those who had tested positive recovered, while the rest are being quarantined under observation, the directorate added in an online statement.
“Medical checking of prisoners is part of regular tests and the necessary precautionary and preventive measures, as the health and rehabilitation of inmates are among the priorities of the security establishment,” it said.
The Interior Ministry, which is in charge of prisons in Kuwait, has drawn up a plan to keep the health scene in the central prison under control during the COVID-19 crisis through a raft of measures including isolating new inmates and doing regular tests for them to ensure they are free of the virus for four weeks, Kuwaiti newspaper Al Anba reported Friday.
Kuwait so far has conducted 330,129 coronavirus tests, according to official figures.
Last month, Kuwait enforced a 20-day complete curfew to contain the coronavirus that has resulted so far in 34,952 infections and 285 deaths in the country. Late in May, Kuwait shifted to a nighttime curfew as part of a gradual plan to return to normal life.
