Packed Zamboanga City jail is virus hot spot

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines — Local officials are rushing efforts to decongest the city jail, which has become a hot spot for the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) with 86 of 95 confirmed infections in the city coming from the complex.

On Monday, 21 of 64 swab samples from the Zamboanga City Reformatory Center (ZCRC) tested positive for the coronavirus, according to Dr. Justin Elfred Paber, spokesperson for Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC).

Paber did not say how many of the 21 new cases were inmates or jail officers. But earlier, at least nine officers were earlier tested positive for COVID-19.

The 600-square-meter jail complex is designed for only 600 people but it now holds at least 3,319. It also has 128 officers and employees.

Epicenter

Dr. Dulce Miravite, the city health officer, described ZCRC as the “epicenter” of COVID-19 in Zamboanga, given the alarming rise in the number of cases there.

Two inmates, one male and one female, died on April 20 and April 30. Test results released days after their deaths confirmed that they were infected with the coronavirus.

Another inmate is confined at ZCMC, while the rest were taken to a makeshift quarantine area inside the jail complex.

The warden, Chief Insp. Nathaniel Aljas, gave assurance that all COVID-19 cases had been isolated.

Aljas, who described the jail as “highly congested” and “very susceptible to contagion,” said two cells, several kiosks and a basketball court had been converted into quarantines for sick inmates and employees.

Decongestion

The Zamboanga City Task Force COVID-19 had started planning the jail’s decongestion on May 1, when a jail officer and 18 inmates tested positive for the virus.

But the plan drew resistance from village officials and communities that did not want inmates to be transferred to makeshift holding areas in school compounds in four villages near the jail, according to Elmeir Apolinario, city disaster risk reduction and management officer.

“There is no movement yet so far, but we have four [buildings prepared] at the Zamboanga ecozone … as [containment areas] for those who get well but had to be monitored for 14 days,” Apolinario said. Each building has 68 rooms.

Aljas said the only move made to decongest the jail was to hasten the release of 60 prisoners who had secured documents for their freedom.

They are housed in one of the city’s hotels for a two-week quarantine. “They will all be sent to their respective barangays once they complete the quarantine period,” he said. INQ