Malawi Prison Service has registered first Covid-19 death as an inmate succumbed to the virus.

National Spokesperson for Malawi Prison Chimwemwe Shaba confirmed of the development.

According to reports, the inmate was from Nkhotakota prison but was later transferred to Maula Prison in Lilongwe after tested positive for covid-19 which is prisons isolation center.

Shaba has since said that at the moment, at least 118 inmates have tested positive for the virus and the number of prison officers diagnosed with the virus is at 21.

After the prison department registered first cases, detention of prisoners and relational visits were banned with an aim of containing the spread of the virus in the country’s prisons.

Meanwhile, human rights defenders are calling on government to decongest prisons.