“One inmate died. He tested positive for COVID-19, based on the result of the swab test. He was also suffering from heart disease,” chief of the Riau Provincial Law and Human Rights Office, Ibnu Chulud, said at a press conference here on Friday.
He also reported that four wardens at the facility have contracted the virus.
One of the inmates who tested positive for COVID-19 is being treated at Awal Bros Hospital in Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau province, he informed.
Chulud said overcrowding at the correctional facility is to blame for the quick transmission of the virus. The correctional facility currently has 1,502 inmates, well above its capacity of 771 inmates.
The correctional facility has a total of 109 employees.
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He said the inmate who died of COVID-19 had undergone treatment outside the correctional facility at the recommendation of the doctor on call.
The inmate, who had been sentenced to eight years' imprisonment for corruption, had complained of shortness of breath on Monday (October 26, 2020) and had been taken to the hospital, where he had been diagnosed with COVID-19, he informed.
Chulud said the Riau Provincial Law and Human Rights Office will coordinate with the local health office to conduct swab tests on all inmates in stages as a precautionary measure to avert the transmission of the coronavirus.
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Translator: FB Anggoro/Suharto
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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