M’mbelwa District Council through its Health and Social Services Directorate, will from Tuesday this week scale up its fight against Coronavirus by testing inmates and those on remand at Mzimba Prison.
Speaking Tuesday in an interview, M’mbelwa District Council Director of Health and Social services, Dr Lumbani Munthali said his office is targeting to test 200 inmates by the end of the week.
“We are targeting inmates and remandees who have been in the prison from March to May, 2020,” Munthali said.
Mzimba Prison Spokesperson, Sergeant Lizzie Nyirenda applauded the council for the initiative considering that inmates do not observe social/physical distance due to overcrowding.
“The recommended capacity of our prison is about 350 but we have 527 inmates including remandees and this is counterproductive to the set Coronavirus prevention measures,” said Nyirenda.
She said as an intervention to ensure that Covid- 19 prevention measures are adhered to, Malawi Prison Services has started transferring female inmates to Mzuzu Prison with the aim of creating space to accommodate new admissions,” Nyirenda said.
Source; MANA
