Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) Commissioner-General Moses Chihobvu says six prison officers and four inmates succumbed to Covid-19 following a spike in cases during the festive season.
In an interview last, Commissioner-General Moses Chihobvu said despite the surge in cases during the festive period, they didn’t record alarming cases.
“We have four inmates and six prison officers who succumbed to Covid-19 during the festive period across the country. The numbers are not alarming given our population and we are happy that the situation is under control,” he said.
“Comm-Gen Chihobvu said ZPCS was strictly adhering to the Ministry of Health and Child Care as well as the World Health Organisation’s health regulations.
He said the institution had put various measures in place at all prisons in the country to prevent the spread of the virus.
Comm-Gen Chihobvu said the suspension of prison visits by inmates’ relatives was part of the measures put in place to curb the spread of the pandemic.
“We have come up with a number of measures at our prisons meant to protect our inmates and staff from contracting Covid-19,” he said.
Last weekend, President Emmerson Mnangagwa released 139 male prisoners from Chikurubi male Prisons and 11 from Chikurubi Female Prisons while at Harare Central Prisons he released 97 prisoners and also 17 inmates who were saving life sentences through the Presidential amnesty.