Three persons in the custody of the Walewale District Police Command have tested positive for COVID-19, according to Citi News.
They were part of a group of 10 being processed for a transfer to the Tamale Prisons after a pre-departure COVID-19 test conducted returned back as positive
Superintendent Reuben Yao Dugah, the North East Regional Police Crime Officer told Citi News the three persons have been isolated and are quarantined in new police cells.
“Our new way of dealing with prisoners is that if you want to take prisoners from police custody to prison custody, you must necessarily take them through a mandatory COVID-19 test and so based on this, the Walewale district command made a request to the municipal health directorate to conduct COVID-19 tests of some inmates due to be taken to the Tamale prisons.
“Samples were taken from about 10 prisoners who are in police custody and submitted to the laboratory for testing. Results came out indicating that three of them had tested positive. Immediately they have been isolated to a station where we have a free cell,” he added.
Superintendent Dugah however said health personnel in the region have begun contact tracing linked to the three inmates who have tested positive for the coronavirus.