One prisoner dies due to Covid-19 while infections rise

The Department of Correctional Services has confirmed the death of another prisoner due to Covid-19 amid rising virus infections in the country’s prisons.

The 50-year-old prisoner is reported to have died at the East London Correctional Centre last week after suffering from respiratory failure, bringing the department’s total reported coronavirus deaths to five.

The department says the prison remains a hot spot for infections, recording 413 infections out of the department’s recorded 719 national cases as of yesterday.

In the meantime the Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town is set to release more than a thousand low-risk inmates over a period of 10 weeks until July 17th, under the concession made by president Cyril Ramaphosa regarding the spread of Covid-19.

They would have been eligible for parole within the next two years.

The department says police will assist in taking DNA samples and fingerprints before the parole is granted.

By: Gagasi FM News