Widespread testing of inmates at the Lusignan Prison has revealed that over 80 of them are COVID-19 positive, according to senior Health Officials.
The Prison Director Gladwin Samuels has confirmed that over 80 inmates have indeed tested positive for COVID-19.
The results were received over the weekend and the Prison Authorities have been busy trying to put systems in place to house the positive cases in a separate facility.
The over 80 positive cases are in addition to the first two cases that were recorded at the cramped jailhouse last week.
Those first two cases triggered the decision to do widespread testing at the prison.
News Source understands that a decision has been taken to have the inmates isolated at a government facility just outside of Georgetown under heavy security.
Initially, there was a plan to have the COVID-19 positive inmates housed on the main tarmac of the National Park but that plan fell through after senior security officials raised concerns about the security in the area.
On Saturday morning, tents and fencing were being placed for the move to National Park, but by Saturday afternoon, everything was dismantled and that plan was shelved.
The positive cases have since been moved to the secured facility outside of Georgetown where the prisoners are now under heavy joint services guard.
Over the weekend, an unrest broke out at the Lusignan jail as the prisoners loudly voiced their concerns about the condition of the facility and the poor measures in place to protect them from COVID-19.
Just after the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Guyana, visitation to the prisons were halted and most of the prisoners would face their Court hearings via video conference.
But with new prisoners being added to the already over populated facility almost daily and prison officers allowed to travel home regularly, the possibility of infections and spread always remained high.
Health Officials are now assisting the Prison Authorities with the daily sanitization of the facilities at Lusignan.
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