“We slept 6 in the same cell”: Fear for the first positive in the Calf Prison | THE UNIVERSAL



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“ANDn the Ternera prison the crowding is large. There are not enough cells there for all the prisoners. When I was there, I had to sleep on the floor because the cabin already had its two owners. He played me on a piece of mat, with me there were also four on the floor. We had to settle in that small space: one was made near the bathroom, two were placed in the hallway and another was put under the cabin. In total there were six of us in the same cell, we were very tight ”. In this way, a former prisoner from the San Sebastián de Ternera Prison related to El Universal the drama that is experienced there due to the precarious conditions and overcrowding that exists.

(Read: Bolívar exceeds 1,000 cases of contagion by coronavirus).

This person, who was released recently after spending a couple of years confined in that prison, and who for obvious reasons asked to reserve his identity, explained that, in that place, complying with sanitary measures is very difficult, because there are internal toilets for constant hand washing.

“There to bathe you have to take the water from a pool with a cup, it is a common bathroom, many people at the same time. The same to relieve yourself, you have to stand in line and wait for your turn ”, he added.

The man thanks life for not being there in these times of pandemic, because he says that there are not enough guarantees to cope with the disease and many inmates can become infected and even die, as he has seen on television in recent days, referring to other prisons such as Villavicencio and Leticia, which have the highest number of COVID-19 infections in Colombia.

The first case in La Heroica

Tomorrow, May 16, will be two months since the death of Arnold Ricardo, the taxi driver who became the first fatality of the coronavirus in the city and the country. Since then, many of the eyes were on the Ternera Prison, however, only until yesterday was the first positive case confirmed in this place. So he made it known to The universal its director, Mayor Uriel Jaramillo, assuring that: “Two days ago he did not get a fever, but we are already monitoring him. He has COVID-19, is asymptomatic, but is isolated. We are taking preventive measures. If someone has to be removed, it is removed, but for the moment they are all preventive measures. We are with the program ‘Stay in the cell, do not go out to the patio’ to avoid more infections. ”

The official added that the Dadis is preparing tests for the inmates with whom this person may have had contact.

(Read: 15 police officers from Cartagena are infected with COVID-19).

Unofficially, this media learned that this is a man who was admitted to the prison approximately four months ago, and who has had no contact with anyone from abroad, so it is investigated how he was infected, although everything indicates that it may have been through a guardian.

The Universal learned that the procedures are being carried out to remove the inmate from the prison and transfer him to a hospital, although apparently this is stable.

It is from Inpec

It should be remembered that although the District has a pavilion for unionized citizens, the management of sanitation in prisons depends on the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute (Inpec), therefore it is the responsibility of this entity to respond for the measures that will be taken. from now on in the Calf Prison to prevent the spread of the virus.

The outlook looks grim

On the first case of coronavirus in the Cartagena Veal Prison, the renowned Colombian epidemiologist Diego Rosselli said that preventing the outbreak will be difficult. “There are scientific studies that account for the disastrous consequences in prisons in Europe and Asia. The risk in hospital health personnel is low compared to the risk of inmates. Isolating them is difficult, distancing is almost impossible between them. The obvious thing is to isolate the infected person and identify their immediate contacts, but although it sounds easy in real life, it is complex. Unfortunately there are no easy solutions for that. That is where the political debate on whether or not it is advisable to release some prisoners on parole comes into force again, “said the expert. According to the former prisoner consulted, in the Ternera Prison there are more than 2,000 people deprived of liberty. The Ministry of the Interior and the Dadis did not confirm that figure.

The serious example of Meta and Amazonas

Villavicencio prison has been called ‘The hell of the coronavirus’ in Colombia. But no less serious is the situation in Leticia’s. In the first, there are more than 1,700 inmates, of whom almost 900 are infected with COVID-19, while in the second, of the 183 detainees, more than 90 are positive. The figures reveal that more than 50% of the inmates in these penitentiary centers have suffered the symptoms of this dreaded disease, even three deaths have already been registered in the country’s prisons.



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