Palghar, May 7() As many as 72 inmates and sevenofficials from Arthur Road jail in Mumbai have contractedcoronavirus, prison authorities said on Thursday.
The inmates who have tested positive would be shiftedto G T Hospital and St George Hospital in the state capital,they added.
Earlier, speaking to reporters in Palghar district,Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had informed that72 inmates of the jail had tested positive for infection.
After the coronavirus epidemic broke out, the stategovernment had isolated eight prisons in the state includingthe Arthur Road prison, and ordered that no new person will beallowed to enter and those inside, including jail staff, willnot be allowed to leave prison during lockdown.
But despite the precautions, 72 inmates of Arthur Roadprison were found to have contracted coronavirus after comingin contact with a cook who had caught the infection, Deshmukhhad told reporters.
"These prisoners will be quarantined with the help ofthe Mumbai civic body," he said.
The home minister was speaking to the media aftervisiting Gadchinchale village in the district where threepersons including two monks were lynched by a mob on suspicionof being thieves on April 16.
Deshmukh also said that to prevent the spread of virusin jails, the state government had decided to release onparole some 5,000 prisoners who have been sentenced to lessthan seven years' imprisonment. COR DCKRK KRK