An inmate at the Taita Taveta County-based Manyani Maximum Prison has been isolated after testing positive for the novel Coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Taita Taveta Health CEC John Mwakima intimated to a local media that the inmate had recently been transferred from Shimo La Tewa correctional facility.
Another inmate, who came into close contact with the patient, Mwakima said, has been quarantined.
Officials from the ministry of health visited the prison to establish its state over fears that the contagious disease might spread in the facility.
The new infection brings to 12 the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the county.
Read: 31 Inmates Evacuated In Nairobi After Testing Positive For Covid-19
A fortnight ago, 31 inmates were evacuated from Nairobi Remand and Allocation Prison and placed under treatment in various hospitals in Nairobi after testing positive for Covid-19.
The 31 cases were part of 59 samples taken from remandees and prisoners on Thursday, May 28 in the ongoing targetted mass testing.
“The individuals had just completed 21 days in quarantine at the Nairobi Remand and Allocation Prison where they had been admitted from various courts, ” said Wycliffe Ogallo, the Kenya Prisons Service commissioner-general.
Over the recent past, the government has freed over 10,000 petty offenders as part of efforts to decongest prisons and reduce the risk of the spread of Covid-19 in the correctional facilities.
So far, Kenya has confirmed 3,457 cases with 100 deaths and 1,221 recoveries.
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