Fourth wave of COVID-19 threatens the lives of inmates in Karaj Prison
The lives of prisoners in the Central Prison of Karaj are increasingly in danger with the start of a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran.
Reports from inside the overcrowded and unhygienic prison indicate that testing, treatment and care are not carried out for sick prisoners and the authorities have failed to take adequate infection prevention measures.
Lack of medical attention and proper facilities for prisoners suffering from COVID, poor sanitary conditions and overpopulation in tight spaces, have exacerbated fears of COVID-19 outbreak in the prison.
In one of the prison’s wards, at least 600 prisoners are held together, unable to maintain a safe distance from each other.
Prisoners are only checked for fevers. Sick prisoners are not isolated due to lack of testing despite showing coronavirus symptoms.
In this way, many prisoners suspected of having the virus are being held in the ward with others.
According to an informed source, the number of new inmates is increasing in the prison.
Despite the fact that a number of prisoners in the Central Prison of Karaj have been recently transferred to Ghezel Hesar prison, yet the prison’s population is increasing with the arrival of new prisoners.
According to this source, there is no medicine or equipment in the prison’s medical center to deal with the disease and attend sick prisoners.
The same source told Iran Human Rights Monitor that the prison’s medical center lacks even an oxygen device to rescue patients.
There were previous reports indicating the spread of the virus in the prison’s hall 1, which is a quarantine and a place for newly arrived prisoners.
Dozens of prisoners with acute Covid-19 have been taken to hospital.
Amnesty International revealed in July 2020 that the Iranian regime has ignored repeated pleas by prison officials for resources to control the spread of COVID-19 in the country’s prison system.
“Overcrowding, poor ventilation, lack of basic sanitation and medical equipment, and deliberate neglect of prisoners’ health problems, are making Iranian prisons a perfect breeding ground for COVID-19.
“The Iranian authorities must stop denying the health crisis in Iran’s prisons and take urgent steps to protect prisoners’ health and lives, “ Amnesty International said.
