Prisoner dies in Sylhet hospital of Covid-19

A prisoner of Sylhet Central Jail died at the isolation centre of Sylhet Shaheed Shamsuddin Ahmed Hospital on Sunday.

Reportedly, this is the first death of a prisoner with coronavirus infection in the country, said Md Abdul Jalil, senior jail superintendent of Sylhet Central Jail.

The prisoner died on Sunday and the test result that came from the PCR laboratory of Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College the next day showed he was Covid-19 positive, said Dr Anisur Rahman, assistant director (disease control) of Sylhet divisional health office.

Jail Superintendent Md Abdul Jalil said, "The man from Kanaighat upazila of the district was arrested by police in a murder case on March 5 and was sent to jail that day. On May 7, he fell sick and was admitted to the jail hospital."

"The next day, he was taken to the prison ward of Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital. As he had symptoms of Covid-19, he was then admitted to the isolation centre of Sylhet Shaheed Shamsuddin Ahmed Hospital, where he died on May 10," he said.

"After his test came back positive, we locked down one block inside the jail and sent 86 inmates to quarantine in a separate building. Twenty-four staff members, including me and the assistant surgeon of the jail hospital, are also in quarantine. We are trying to send samples of everyone, who came in close contact with the deceased, for Covid-19 test," he said.

"Since the virus is spreading, we stopped allowing visitors at the jail and prisoners are allowed to call their family members over phone," he added.