An inmate at the Kumasi Central Prisons has been isolated at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital after testing positive for COVID-19.
The Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Prisons Service, DSP Richard Bukari said the inmate contracted the virus while on admission at the hospital for a different ailment.
The officers who escorted the inmate, however, tested negative.
“It happened at the hospital. This was someone on admission at the hospital. So thank God when he was showing signs he was tested there and he has not been brought back but the impression being created is that he got it at the yard. That is not true. He has been isolated.”
There have been concerns that Ghana’s prisons could be the hardest hit in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak.
This is because of the level of congestion in prison cells across the country, which makes it difficult to practise social distancing.
However, officials say measures are underway for inmates to practice social distancing.
Ghana’s COVID-19 case count currently stands at 12,590 after 397 new cases were confirmed.
66 persons have so far succumbed to the virus in Ghana.
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