More than 600 COVID-19 cases in Sri Lanka prisons

COLOMBO: Authorities said more than 600 COVID-19 cases have been detected in Sri Lanka’s highly congested prisons, according to The Associated Press.

A total of 652 cases have been found in five prisons in different parts of the Indian Ocean island nation.

Of them, 609 are inmates and 43 are prison officers.

Sri Lankan prisons are highly congested with more than 26,000 inmates crowded in facilities designed for 10,000.

Sri Lanka has seen a fresh outbreak of the disease since last month when two clusters — one at a garment factory and other at a fish market — emerged in the capital Colombo and its suburbs, according to the report.