The Chief Justice of Sindh High Court (SHC), Justice Ahmed Ali M. Sheikh, on Monday ordered complete screening of inmates, prisoners and UTPs in prisons and lockups of Sindh due to the spreading of the novel coronavirus.

The directives issued to the Chief Secretary and the Inspector-General of Prisons stated that the Chief Justice, while observing the present scenario of spreading of the novel coronavirus cases across the country ordered that in the wake of reported coronavirus cases across the county, it was imperative to have complete screening of the inmates/prisoners/UTPs confined in different Prisons/Jails/Lockups of Sindh, which were already overcrowded and chances of spread of this highly infectious virus were quite high.

The Registrar of the court was directed to contact the Chief Secretary and the IG Prisons to direct them to provide temperature guns to each unit/prison/lockup for early detection and segregation of infected UTPs/prisoners from others to minimize the chances of its spread.

Body temperature of the jail staff must also be checked before their entering prisons/lock ups/jail premises and they may also be advised to sanitize themselves/wash their hands at regular intervals.

The directives said that the jail doctors shall remain vigilant and guide the inmates how to keep themselves safe in case any inmate suffered from flu, fever, headache or any other symptoms closely related to the coronavirus.

After provision of temperature guns on emergency basis, a report shall be submitted to the court regarding complete screening of the prisons/jails/lockups within a week.

The chief justice also directed the chief secretary of Sindh to depute a team or rapid response unit of paramedics and doctors in every central prison of Sindh for immediate response and take steps in this regard in consultation with the secretary of health and the IG Prisons.

If an inmate was found to be infected with the coronavirus, steps should be taken to keep him in isolation as per standard, the order stated.