Africa-Press – Lesotho. The Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) has recently experienced an outbreak of Covid-19 infections at its prison facilities. Over 70 positive cases have been recorded at the facilities in recent weeks.
This was revealed to the Informative Newspaper by the LCS Public Relations Officer (PRO) Assistant Superintendent Pheko Ntobane in an interview on Monday this week.
Maseru Central Correctional Service recorded 53 new positive cases, the Juvenile Training Center (JTC) has eight cases while the Butha-Buthe Correctional facility
recorded 24 cases. Asked what measures have been adopted to arrest the situation, Assistant Superintendent Ntobane said there are plans to suspend the prison visits, however warning that the move may
have an “impact” as the inmates are entitled to receive visitors while in custody. Their investigations he said had shown that the infections result from the infected goods from the
visitors. He further mentioned that they will augment their screening exercise to guard against possible imported cases into the facilities. The LCS PRO said they
will this week disinfect the premises. For Butha-Buthe and JTC facilities, he said they have reported the recoveries. In Maseru Central facility, he said the situation is “stable”.
Asked how the response to the vaccination campaign is, he could not say adding that there is still “scepticism” from the inmates who have reluctance to get jabbed.
The correctional facilities are said to be vulnerable to the spread of Covid-19 infections owing to the confined conditions and close proximity which the inmates share.
For More News And Analysis About Lesotho Follow Africa-Press
