Wa Prison inmates test negative for coronavirus

All the 117 inmates of the Wa Central Prisons have tested negative for COVID-19, the Assistant Director of Prisons, Mr Francis Selorm Hagbe, Upper West Regional Commander of the Ghana Prisons Service has disclosed.

He said their focus was now on prevention, to which they had strengthened their response mechanisms to ensure the safety of all inmates and officers of the prison.

Mr Hagbe disclosed this while receiving a donation of food and non-food items from the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), presented by the Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, to support the upkeep of inmates of the prison.

The Wa Central Prisons Commander said the donation would help them strengthen their response to COVID-19, while also improving on the welfare of the prisoners.

Emphasizing on the prevention, Mr Hagbe said physical contact with prisoners was not allowed when visitors came to visit.

He said church service and other social gatherings were all regulated to ensure there was no breach of the social gathering directive.

Veronica buckets had also been placed at vantage points inside the prison to ensure regular hand washing among inmates.

"We have also provided some vitamin C for inmates to take on daily basis to boost their immune systems," he said.

He added that it was a must for all officers to wear nose mask, wash their hands and have their temperatures taken before being allowed to go inside the prison.

Dr Bin Salih noted that COVID-19 had brought extra burden in terms of care for the prisoners, hence the decision by the RCC to donate the items to help ease the burden.

The Regional Minister appealed to the general public to support management of the prison to provide comfort to their unfortunate brothers.

The donation includes mattresses; bags of rice and maize; gallons of cooking oil; packets of sugar and soap; Veronica buckets; and non-contact infrared thermometer.