To deal with Covid case spike, Tihar jail gets its own oxygen plant

To prevent a shortage of oxygen cylinders in the capital, amid a Covid case spike, the Delhi government’s health department has installed an oxygen plant in Tihar jail. Officials said Tihar’s jail number 3 has a 100-bed hospital where oxygen can be provided to patients from this plant if a crisis arises.

DG (Prisons) Sandeep Goel said they have separate designated barracks for isolation of any Covid-19 suspected inmate and quarantine wards for all new entrants. “A Covid-19 special task force (STF) has also been created in each prison for proper inter/intra sectoral coordination. A medical team is also conducting daily screening of all inmates from barrack to barrack in each prison,” he said.

During the second wave, a separate temporary jail was created in the police residential complex at Mandoli to quarantine all new entrants before sending them to their respective jails. “Till December 25, a total of 15,152 inmates have received their first dose and 6,818 inmates have received their second dose,” a senior jail official said.

Officials said in spite of crowded prisons, Covid deaths were limited to a single figure in Tihar, Rohini Jail and Mandoli complexes. “A total of eight deaths of inmates took place due to Covid-19 during the second wave,” an official said.