The Prison Department has put in place a contingency plan to use the Bogambara Prison complex in Kandy to isolate prisoners if there is an outbreak of COVID-19 among the inmates, Commissioner General T.M.J. W. Tennakoon said.
The Department has requested the Kandy Urban Development Authority (UDA), under the purview of which the colonial period maximum security prisons now comes, to allow the use of a section of the building for quarantine purposes, Commissioner General Tennakoon told the Daily Post.
The Prison Department has put in stringent measures to prevent the virus from spreading among the prisoners which include a ban on all visitors but is prepared for any eventuality, he said.
The Government has initiated a program to reduce the overcrowding in prions with around 2961 prisoners who were jailed for minor offences released in the past four weeks.